Putting on the brakes

I've had to slow down my decluttering efforts because of other, more urgent matters. Note I said "urgent" not necessarily important.

Spring has sprung and I had to squeeze every available moment of decent weather to work on the yard. We have "decluttered" a long row of neglected and diseased hedges along the driveway and a tottering cinder block wall in the front. As well we have prepared the veggie plot for the new season and built a better gate for the free-range-chicken-zone of the garden.

With all this yard action I have had little time to think about the other goals that I've already started! So the laundry room still looks much the same.

It didn't help that the freezer decided to die and all the contents had to taken in a mad rush to my sister's freezer. Thankfully my handy husband found the problem and resuscitated the appliance, so we were spared the unpleasant task of buying a new one! I am so lucky we did the freezer challenge in January, otherwise there would have been far too much to fit in my sister's space!

Easter, birthdays and a whole mess of new, demanding contracts for work have also interupted my desire to purge the clutter. The desire is still there, but I can't do much about it right this minute.... oh well.

Don't give up on me, there is more to toss, and more to see.

Small victories like these are still happening:

 

 

 (an empty cabinet that needs to go to a different house...

... it was a hand-made present so it's a tough one to let go of)

 

PLUS my husband has purged 3 coats and a pair of shoes too!

I wish I took pictures

I made a deal with my youngest boy this weekend... if he could help with some of MY chores, I would clean his room. After short negotiations as to what chores he'd have to do, he went for it.

So I spent a good part of Sunday tearing into the plethora of bins and containers in his room. It looked waaaaaay worse before it started looking better, but now there is some logic to the containers (all the playmobil in one place, hotwheels in another, for example).

Thanks to all the practice I've had in my own spaces lately, I had great success consolidating and streamlining his storage bins! I put SIX high quality empty bins in the crawlspace (I know I should just donate them, but I will give them some time to prove useless before that). There was a small amount of trash (toy packages) and only a small amount of damaged toys, so I didn't really remove a whole lot of volume. It was just the miss-filed items that were taking up so much extra space. And that accident has been fixed now.

He came home from an outing with dad to a better looking and better functioning space. Oh ya and it was cleaner too. With everything torn out, I could vacuum and dust in the chronically blocked corners... small mountains of dust and pet hair lurked there (ewwww). With less bins now, theoretically it should be easier to clean these corners more often. It's now Wednesday and it's still very nice in there. :)

In other news: 2 weeks ago I gave 4 very large, quality, hinged plastic bins to my sister to help her rotate toys in her kids' playroom.... she has seen my decluttering successes and thought she'd try cutting down the immediate choices for her kids so they could find it easier to put things away and easier to find something to play with. By rotating the toys, old will be new again in a few months, and clean up time should go faster.

It's funny how there is a certain point where too much choice is annoying instead of fun - that's where her playroom had gone to. Nobody wanted to play in there. Now that 4 large totes worth are out of sight, and several more bags were donated or tossed, and even a large piece of furniture was removed, her kids suddenly love their playroom again!

No I didn't pest my sister to do it, she just saw with her own eyes that I have been happier with less, and recognized that it could solve her playroom frustrations to have less too. And I just happened to have a bunch of empty bins (!)

Align Life with Priorities

I found "extraorganized.com" recently and thought I'd give some of the concepts a real effort.
(My comments are in the CAPS)

"Align your life with your priorities"

What is important to you, at this moment in your life? Over the next twelve months, aim to gradually bring the way you spend your time into alignment with these things. To help identify your core priorities, think about the following questions:

• What are your top five priorities?
FAMILY - HOME - CREATIVITY - MONEY MANAGEMENT - HEALTH

• From a friend’s perspective, what would they say your top five priorities are?
THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. ANY FRIENDS WANT TO WEIGH IN ON THAT IN THE COMMENTS?

• Does the way you spend your time reflect either list?
WELL, I WORK FROM HOME SO I CAN BE CLOSER TO FAMILY, AND THAT FORCES ME TO MANAGE MY MONEY CLOSELY, AND MY WORK IS CREATIVE... ALL BUT THE HEALTH THING ARE COVERED THERE. I EAT HOME COOKED MEALS MOST OF THE TIME AND PAY ATTENTION TO MY FOOD, BUT EXERCISE COULD BE TAKEN MORE SERIOUSLY FOR SURE :)

• Is there anything getting in the way of your priorities? Is it worth it?
SOMETIMES THE PRIORITIES CONFLICT: MESSY HOME THANKS TO CREATIVE ENDEAVOURS, OR LESS FUN TIME WITH FAMILY THANKS TO RESPONSIBLE MONEY MANAGEMENT. OTHERWISE MY REALITY IS INLINE WITH MY PRIORITES MOST OF THE TIME.

BUT IF I COULD ADD ONE MORE PRIORITY IT WOULD BE A SOCIAL LIFE OUTSIDE OF HOME/FAMILY. MY PRIORITIES (AS THEY ARE) HAVE LEFT LITTLE ROOM FOR ANYTHING ELSE. I SUPPOSE CREATIVITY AND SOCIAL EXPANSION COULD BE INTERTWINED IF I WENT FARTHER AFIELD FOR MY CREATIVE OUTLET BEYOND MT CAMERA LENS OR COMPUTER SCREEN...

GOAL #36 - Entryway/laundryroom

Not a lot going on in the entryway (there is no room to hide bins anyways!) but I do have an excess of reusable grocery bags in the coat closet. I think the eco thing to do is use these extra bags as my donation containers for a while.

The laundryroom is a whole other story. Stacks of bins for shoes, cleaning supplies and other bits and bobs. Here is the starting point....

 

The goal is to to clear off the horizontal surfaces and limit the busy-clutter.

Away for Good, Away for Now

I put an audio book on and got packing today.

SO FAR...
Away forever - one box of stuff is going away forever
Away for now - going to the crawlspace with "expiry dates" written on them - 1 large box of DVDs and 1 box of books

 

(small sampling of stuff going away so far)

Reality is a mean mistress

I look at all these things around, and am anguishing over how to FIX the lingering piles that are plaguing me.

I want a pretty, clean space. I know that means getting rid of everything that doesn't fit the vision.

I know it, but I have such a hard time DOING it. Cutting the fat as it were is tougher than it sounds as I look at the kid's art and the lego model, the costume sparkly necklace and my yoda figurine on my desk. They are so cute and fun on their own, but all together on my desk it looks messy.

The vision is worth the temporary pain, right?

Once these cute things are put away I will forget about them quickly, right?

It's time

I've been saying for a couple years now that I want to own less and be happy with less so I will feel less smothered/overwhelmed by all the stuff.

In the old days, all my stuff was a comfy blanket to keep me warm in uncertain times. Sparse homes made me feel cold and uncomfortable even for a short visit! How things have changed. Now a cluttered home suffocates me and so much of my own things seem to just harbour mess and stress.

That photo of my office area that I posted a while back is a prime example. What's that all about? My blog is "Happy Shiny Me" and that image is neither "happy" nor "shiny", but it is "me" in that place at that time.

That's how I know it is time.  It's GOTTA GO. All the books I don't read, papers I don't look at, tools I don't use, treasures that don't mean anything anymore. Movies that I keep rewatching (don't I have better things to do with my time?) I've held onto so much for so long, it won't be easy... I have to be strong, with a clear vision of my end goal - SPACE TO BREATHE -  and space to bring new experiences into my life.

So that I don't have any immediate regrets, I will be utilizing the vast empty space under my house as a purgatory for my stuff. Taking a tip from other declutterers I will have boxes taped up with the current date written clearly. If I do not break the seal looking to retrieve something from the box in one year, I am sure I can safely get rid of it. An added bonus of keeping the boxes in the crawlspace is that I will likely try to "make do" without this item instead of going looking for it. And if I can make do without it once, then I can likely permanently live without this theoretical item, right?

GOAL #35 Kitchen and Dining

To remove the excess in order to reveal the right amount! That is the goal here. To make the important things stand out and not me smothered by the extraneous materials.

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
― Michelangelo

No place is it more important to me than the kitchen!
Since this is a container challenge that I am going for right now, I won't be tearing into every cupboard and drawer this week. Just the containers that are lurking within. I have baskets that contain mixes, baskets that contain baking supplies, baskets that have "treats".

The dining room is very simple because I don't have too much extra stuff in there.... but I'll do it too.

This mission is to remove the outdated, expired, broken and unloved that don't belong here anymore. (And hopefully to remove a few containers and streamline while I'm at it.)

Progress:
These items I no longer use/want in my kitchen:

Any items removed is good news!

Peaking

"Where did all this CRAP come from!", my internal dialogue is raging right now.

I know very well where it all came from, each and every piece of debris, garbage and outdated thing.

Packaging is a major culprit for most of western society, I think. Too much all the time and never ending!

Built-in obsolescence is another infuriating offender! Why oh why can't they build things to last anymore! Nothing makes me more angry than spending good money on a new item to find out that it was built to last a season or two. The last few hundred dollars I have spent on my son's shoes, they FELL APART before he got a chance to outgrow them, not cheap knock-off brands either! Total garbage in a few short months. Electronics and small appliances are a source of frustration in this category as well. Toasters and kettles in particular. I want to spend the money on a GOOD one and use it for decades please!

The nitty gritty of my endless rage is  - gritty.

Dirt dirt dirt dirt dirt. Dog, cat, kid, yard, dust, fluff, food, MESS!

Never ending, hard to keep even remotely ahead of.

I have "peaked" again with my tolerance threshold...

((((yoga breaths))))

I guess I better get back to war with it.

GOAL#34 - Office/Den

This is a two week goal... the sheer volume of little things is DAUNTING!

Starting Point.... my office/den is by far the most tragic space in my home for homeless clutter and "one day I might need it" clutter... a lot of sentimental clutter resides there too. Oh ya and the box of things that are heading out of the house usually ends up beside the bookshelf too.

 

 

 

See what I mean?!

 

I anticipate this goal will be CHALLENGING. But not impossible. Some containers are working... I know what's in them and can find what I'm looking for. OTHERS are mysterious containers of unknown flotsam and jetsam. Those are the ones I will be focusing on.

 

Some of the more interesting items found in and around my desk area:

• MORE bits and bobs that belong in my hardware bin,
• tape measures,
• sewing items,
• about 20 gluesticks,
• outdated business cards,
• old kids projects that never got finished,
• magazines,
• lipbalms,
• nail trimmers (I have SIX apparently!),
• lotions and
• hair accessories.

 

Obviously having my office downstairs at the other house made me keep some items "conveniently close" instead of "properly away". In this house, being one level, EVERYTHING is conveniently close even when it IS away, so hopefully that is the end of that habit.

 

Also: cables for obsolete electronics, software discs for computers I no longer own and other gadget junk. The weird thing is that I thought I already went through these gadget-bins last year! I swear they breed on their own.

 

The biggest SINGLE item I removed is a monitor that I used as my "toolbar" monitor in tandem with my main monitor. It started acting up a few months ago and now it won't turm on. Buh-Bye! My desk looks so much brighter without it!

 

 

 More yet to slog through.... I'll post the final results next week.

GOAL #33 - Living room Storage

Not nearly as intimidating as the bedroom containers!

 

 

What lurks inside?

 

Decluttered from one bin (now for sale online) an old gaming system and the games:

 

 

The other containers were okay. One "theme" per container, I can live with that for now.

Electronic Streamlining

We gave away this perfectly functioning behemoth to family friends who's TV is failing fast and they needed something sturdy enough to hold it too so they got the cabinet by default. (I bribed them to accept my offer with turkey dinner)

 

 

Not sure if I can include this in as"decluttering" since the cabinet and TV are being replaced -- then again the new ones are to be more modern and streamlined.

 

Now if only I could streamline my movie collection - in the dresser on the right of the picture. I really enjoy re-watching movies, and it seems my faves aren't on Netflix (at least the Canadian version).

GOAL#28 cont... the Pantry Keeps on Giving!

My freezer and pantry aren't even close to sparse yet, and I'm liking the breathing room that has begun in there, (I have room for an ice cube tray now!). So.... the January challenge is being extended!!! (But I will be getting more organic ground beef very soon).

This week's menu:

• Tuna Hashbrown Casserole
• Soft tacos
• Sweet Italian Sausage and Rigatoni in tomato sauce
• Buffalo Chicken Strips w/ fresh Yam Fries
• Hot Dogs w/ Saurkraut (I cheated and bought fresh dogs and buns for this)
• Butter Chicken w/ Palak Paneer
• Turkey Dinner (invited friends over for this one)

Shopping:
Fruit Veg, Dairy, Eggs, Bread, Hotdogs, Cereal, Juice, Coffee

The grocery bill has been much lower than usual this month. Of course that can't be sustained much longer, but it's a nice break after cash-heavy December expenses.

GOAL #32 - Master Bedroom Containment

STRATEGY: Pull them out, look inside, dump them clean and only put back what I know to be useful or beautiful.

Here they are... the ones lying around the room (not including the closet containers). There is also a roll-out container under the bed that has novels in it.

Ties: Why so many for people that don't wear suits?

Tights: Why so many for a woman that rarely wears skirts except in the heat of summer?
(oh and I found some in a drawer and another basket in my closet!)

 

the Bu-bye ties:

 

the Bu-bye tights:

Hey! these suitcases are already empty! (and 2 of the round containers were too)

 

 

The small one is now re purposed as my "travel souvenir space" consolidating the items from my trips that are all around the house to a single, finite space that I can reminisce from whenever I want.

 

The big antique suitcase sold online in less than 24 hours! YAY CASH!

 

As for the other containers, some are redundant... I had one full of sewing bits and pieces and hardware! That was handy when the main sewing kit and hardware bins were in a hard-to-reach area of our old basement laundryroom. But in this house, they are easily accessible a few feet from my bedroom in tidy bins at the bottom of the linen closet. Now that hatbox is empty because everything went to the more logical home.

 

Slippers: I love them almost as much as cardigans! They make more sense in the clothes closet instead of a container on the floor (threw out a holey pair while I was at it)

 

 

And the now-empty baskets/boxes will be donated to my favourite thrift shop. That is harder than I'd like to admit. After all, these are pretty containers that I selected and purchased on purpose because of their looks and functionality.

 

 

 

Miscellaneous Success

Nice items that I wasn't using... off they go to someone that may appreciate them more!

(and a few cookbooks too)

Goal #28 - UPDATE IV

Still ample items from the freezer to make meals from. I may have to extend this challenge!

Menu from this week:

• Hamburger Steaks (new to me)
• Slowcooker Mediterranian Chicken Thighs (a favourite)
• Grilled meat skewers w/ humus, warm pita, salad
• Ginger Beef & Broccoli
• Shrimp Provencale
• Ham Carbonara

Shopping:
Same old same old. Dairy, bread, eggs, veg, fruit. (And a few special veg for the Provencale, namely a fennel bulb and fresh basil.)

Digital Gold Mine

I found a bin of games that the kids never play with anymore, so I posted them online and eight of them are gone already! I hope the new owners enjoy them too.

 

GOAL #31 - The 'Ultimate'

Background: I love the layered flexibility that cardigans give me. Cozy comfort at my chilly desk, but I can take it off as I warm up bustling around the house. Cardigans are a staple in my work-from-home uniform. I own them in varying lengths, weights and colours.

These week I went out with my sister for lunch downtown and we happened by a wonderful little shop, that happened to have an excellent end-of-season sale rack. Oh the pretty things! After trying on a few items that I rejected because of price, fit or style, I found what may just be the ULTIMATE cardigan!

This particular purchase (that I am wearing right now) has a nice long sleeve length, a great collar, a good overall length, ample front pockets (great for the MP3 player) and is constructed from a nice dark waffle fabric finished with good quality stitching. And it was on the 60% off rack! It has instantly rendered several cardigans in my closet as obsolete!

GOAL#31 - Cull the inferior Cardigans!

Process: Now that this 'perfect'  sweater has come into my life, I will have to try on all the others in the closet and give a quick pruning to my collection.

Verdict: OMG that was a really really hard challenge. I pulled out every cardigan I own, and to my shock and amazement I had TWO DOZEN (24) hanging in my closet! Asking the same questions I always do for clothes:
Does it fit?
Is it flattering?
Is it comfortable?
Has it seen better days?
Does it fit into my current life?

All 24 of them had redeeming qualities! I had to get fierce. Finally I removed FOUR that I either never chose or  - being completely honest - were too frumpy (but those are the softest ones so it was tough). My new, ultimate cardigan displaced 4, not-quite-perfect ones.

 

So is there any item in your kitchen/closet/garage that is so very perfect that every other similar item pales by comparison? I challenge you to find new homes for the cheap imitations. If it is simply too hard to be left with 'only' one, keep the #2 favourite as a "back up" and see if you can part with anything that disappoints. (I know, I couldn't even get close to that dream with the cardigans, but at least I made an effort and came away with some success.)

So many things - MORE GOALS

There are so many things in houses that are never looked at. Nooks and crannies full of the seldom thought about stuff that we keep "just in case". Think about all the little baskets/bins/decorative boxes tucked around the average person's place that are there to "organize" miscellaneous bits and bobs. And how often - when those bits and bobs are required - can we remember which container they are in? Well I for one only remember where the item is only about 20% of the time, which tells me there are TOO MANY PLACES TO LOOK!

GOALS! Sort through and Eliminate Excess Containers in One Room Each Week.

• Goal #32 Master Bedroom
• Goal #33 Livingroom
• Goal #34 Office/Den
• Goal #35 Kitchen/Dining
• Goal #36 Entryway/laundryroom
• Goal #37 Bathrooms
• Goal #38 Other bedrooms
• Goal #39 Linen/Broom closets

I have been through all these bins when I moved a few months ago, but even while I went through them I said the "oh that's where that is" and closed the container up for the move. It's all blurred together now... the red felt hatbox in the bedroom? Or was it the little seagrass basket in the livingroom? Maybe the bright green bin under the sink in the bathroom? The hunt begins, ending with me finding the item... eventually.

The problem is these bins are pretty, they are "organizing solutions", and that is a good thing -- in theory. For most people I think they are really "hiding places"!

Goal #28 - Update III

Pantry challenge is entering week #3 and no suffering or weird foods made yet!
Bonus: I cleaned out the fridge and tossed some expired dressings and 3 forgotten plums.

Shopping:

• bananas,
• eggs,
• cream,
• milk,
• bread,
• fresh ground sirloin beef,
• bagels,
• sour cream,
• deli meats,
• kale salad mix (new to me and YUMMY!)

Menu from last week:

• Perogies w/ farmer's sausage
• Halibut w/ lemon confit sauce on rice
• Pork tenderloin in a Souvalaki marinade w/ Greek potatoes
• Rueben Sandwiches
• Pumpkin Leek Soup
• Tortellini Alfredo
• Spaghetti w/ home-made meat tomato sauce
• Spinach and Mushroom Strata Casserole

Not bad at all! The boys gave funny looks to the strata casserole, but otherwise no complaints.

GOAL #30 - Slack-ing Off

Situations change for everyone, it's a part of life! Maybe it's time to recognize and honour these transitions with a wardrobe revisit! After all, waistlines change, jobs change, fashions change too.

GOAL # 30 - Make sure all my slacks are ones that are loved!

Process: Pull ALL my pants out of the closet. Try every pair on.
Do they still fit?!
Are they flattering/comfortable?
Are they deperately out of fashion?
Are they favourites?
Do they have any real function in my current life?

I know I have culled my "office" slacks before - after all I haven't worked in an office environment in 12 years! And sice I no longer require black slacks everyday, I realistically don't need very many of them, maybe even just 2 pairs right? There were MANY more than that thanks to my sister's fancy work dress code and generous nature. I said "yes" too many times when she was cleaning out her closet. After all she has excellent taste, a very similar body shape and a decent clothes budget. I got real. And the pictures speak for themselves really....

Verdict: 9 pairs of slacks are off to the thrift shop (leaving me with an ample 8 pairs for every occassion I can think of!) I let go of MORE than HALF!!! I also culled 5 pairs of jeans, leaving only my 5 very favourites. HALF of the pants that were in my closet were redundant or uncomfortable!

Getting rid of these extra clothing items also frees me from the guilt of never wearing the fancy brands, or ugly feelings from a bad fit. I feel good about this - and about giving these good quality slacks to charity.

 

"Office Slacks" Starting Point:

The Donation Pile of Slacks!

The Donation Pile of Jeans!

Much Easier to get the "keepers" from my closet!

Nobody is Perfect

Into my 3rd week of Goal#28's Pantry Challenge I have had a slip up. I bought some canned and dry goods yesterday. (Crackers, Juice, Coconut Milk and Spaghetti Noodles)  I feel bad that my willpower slipped, but I'm not beating myself up about it too long. These are items that I use regularly, then again I know I could have lived without ANY of these things for 2 more weeks - darn sale prices!!