Feb's Organising Challenge: Update 1

I originally wrote out this post last Friday night - though I’m talking close to midnight here – however, I somehow deleted the majority of it right before finishing, and couldn’t get it back … was going to rewrite it on the weekend, but Saturday was taken up with helping the family move Grandpa from our place (he’s been living in our Granny flat since I was really little with Grandma, until she passed a few years ago) to my aunts (it’s a lot smaller, and its not so far for him to walk to get to the other people for company) and beginning the quilting of a cot quilt for a girlfriend who has recently had her second child, a boy this time.  This week has been very busy, so nothing written… obviously, lol!

Man, do I ramble, lol!!

Anyhoo, up until Friday night I had made a decent dent in the progress of my clean-up.

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I spent a whole afternoon going through the stuff in this set of drawers, to the left of the bedroom …

L-R :  Gifts ... not-sure-yet ... special children's books

L-R :  Textbooks ... not-sure-yet ... not-sure-yet

L-R : towel sets ... sheets sets & tea towels ... scrap-booking wooden kaisercraft items 

It was a chock-a-block full of *stuff* … old gossip magazines (why are these so darn addictive??!!), old second-hand books, old uni paperwork (study guides, reading booklets, handwritten notes, and old assignments) … considering I have been studying at uni on-and-off since 2000, there was a LOT!!! … The resulting box of paper going to the recyclers was full, there was a box of books going to the op shop, and there were 2 garbage bags headed to the dump (tip) …

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The second area which had a significant overhaul was my closet.  For years I have dreaded attacking this, mainly because I knew it would diminish dramatically in size.  About 5-10 years ago I was a LOT smaller – at least 15-20kgs smaller – and a lot of the outfits that resided in here were from those years.

I had to go in with a plan of attack, as otherwise I would still own a wardrobe of clothes I no longer fit into … Bear in mind I am hoping to lose approx 35 kgs (72 pounds) by the end of the year, 4kgs (9 pounds) of which I have lost in the last month.  Mainly through diet.  Though, to be honest I have gone a little off the wayside this last week and have gained about a kilo back.

Anyways, to give you an idea of my closet before … it was FULL!!!

This image here was actually taken after I had removed my 3yo’s bed (and vacuumed under it … it’s a trundle), and moved a few boxes and things out of the way so I a) had room, and b) could vaccum the floor … Always good to start with a clean floor.

I made three piles …

1. OP SHOP
2. KEEP FOR LATER … Clothes I know I will wear once I get back down to the appropriate sizes
3. KEEP … wear now – staying in closet

I tend to throw clothes out as they get to an un-wearable point, so I didn’t have anything worthy only of the dump.

Once finished, my op shop pile consisted of … 10 skirts, 3 dresses, 2 tops, 1 long pants, 1 brunch-coat …

My “KEEP FOR LATER” pile had … 8 dresses, 11 tops, 5 skirts and 3 pants …

The brown shoes, at the bottom of the pic, are unfortunately headed to the dump ... the insides were falling apart, shedding ... all very sad!!  I really loved wearing the ones on the left ... all those years ago, lol!!

And my closet  ("KEEP" pile) looked … VERY BARE!!!  Left in there are … 1 brunch-coat, 2 coats, 2 dresses, 3 skirts, 4 pants (all were in the wash when I took the photos), 6 tops (three were in the wash)…

The “OP SHOP” pile also received these plastic coat hangers …

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This week I have also …

- Cleaned out bookshelf behind door & 5 out of 8 shelves in my two white 4-shelf bookshelves,

- Put away my daughters “TO GROW INTO” clothes (when the end of season/super sales are on, I tend to buy up in various larger sizes for my daughter … better to get a shirt for $5 than $15 when I know she will wear it … or leggings for $2.45 a pair as I did earlier today!),

- Moved laundry basket to the bathroom,

- I rotate my daughters dvd’s every month, so I have a box of them in our room at all times … these now have a place up high, above one of the bookshelves.

Oh, I also have decided to get rid of 3 exercise dvds (below).  Early last year I went through them all and got rid of all the movies and tv series on dvd that I either am not all that keen on or don't like, which is why I don't have many to get rid of...

If anyone wants any of these dvds, please let me know below ... I have opened and used the Tracy Anderson dvd, once ... the other two are still unused, still in their packaging ... I am not looking to sell them, though if anywhere outside of Aust. I would like cost of postage covered...

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My room ... well, the floor ... at the end of the week, looked much clearer ...

Boxes stored behind rocking chair ... much of which will end up at the top of the cupboards

I don't think the floor in front of the drawers there has been this clear in years!!!

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Considering the 2^nd update is due on Friday, and I haven’t done anything yet this week, I guess I’d better plan a few projects for the next three days … tomorrow DD is at childcare and my uni doesn’t start until March, so I’ll have all day to work on it then.

Don’t forget … this month’s FNSI is this Friday, so sign up here to join in the fun …

I have linked this post up with Laura’s post here.

Feb's 29 Day Organisation Challenge ...

I was meaning to write this post last Thursday, but I got so frustrated with my SKoW needleturn applique (sorry Dawn, that method you showed me in Dec really doesn't work for me :( ) that I just packed it all in and spent the day on the couch doing some stitcheries while watching season 2 of "Sanctuary"  on dvd, along with some washing and template preparation (for the applique) in the afternoon.  It was nice to just have a day to myself ... DD was at childcare, her one day for the week.

After finishing a re-organisation and deep clean of my daughters toys & books, and my sewing/craft/office areas (all in our very spacious living room) the other week, I have had to take a serious look at the bedroom I share with my daughter.  Not fun!  We have been home from our Christmas holidays, visiting family and friends, for a month, and I still have a box of things I brought back that haven't yet found homes ... not to mention its seeming transformation into a dumping ground!

Thankfully Lydia's 29 Days of Organising Challenge has come around right at the perfect time to kick my bum into gear!

As Lydia says ...

Are you ready to make a change?  Are you sick of your clutter owning you? ...  During this month you will concentrate your efforts on one chaotic and cluttered room and work to transform it into an organised and peaceful space instead.  

There will be 3 progress link ups through the month (10th, 17th, 24th) and a final reveal on the 29th, so hopefully I'll have a wonderfully clean and organised room by the end of this month!!!

Once you see my photos, you'll know why I need to re-organise and change up this room, and the hallway outside our room...

These drawers don't look too terribly bad, but both sets of drawers are piled high with *stuff*.

The drawers in the set to the left of our room door were just full!!  It took me all Saturday afternoon to go through them!! ... I had old magazines ... old books, half of which are off to the op shop as I really don't think I'll even read them! ... HEAPS of old uni paperwork, which was culled down to a pile less than an inch high! ... and a few old childrens books which don't come out very often as they are so old and falling apart, but are gorgeous books.  Some of these were mine, some my mothers!! ... These drawers are now not even a third full now ... amazing!!!

I haven't quite got to these drawers yet ... I am ashamed that there is actually a layer of white mould over these things ... a lot of them will be thrown out ... others will be bleached to their death, to kill that yuckiness!! LOL! Next week ... maybe ... I have another three weeks, hehe ...

Okay ... So we open the door, and ... Clutter, clutter, clutter!!!

This next pic was actually taken tonight ... when I took the previous shots on the 1st, there were a couple of full laundry baskets ... both of which have been washed, sorted and put away ... wow!

Alright ... after that total shame and disgrace of a picture show, I will call it a night.  It is also 1am here, and I have to read the first chapter of "Driven By Eternity" ready for our bible study tomorrow morning, pray, and go to sleep... I spent much of this afternoon doing some more FMQing on an old panel I will make up into a cushion when I can get some matching backing fabric ... and I have some pictures of the items I sent Cheryll for the Scissor Keeper swap from last year (though I know some of you will have seen them already on her blog) ... but I will leave them for tomorrow as I already see myself going to sleep around 2am again ... seems I am seeing that time on the clock more and more frequently these days, lol!!  So much for going to bed before midnight this year!!!

Good night and sweet dreams to all!!

Project Purge: Shoes; and Hands2Help Challenge

Just as Tsh's Project Simplify challenge moved towards its conclusion the other week, Jen @ iHeartOrganising began her April "30 items in 30 days" organising challenge, renamed "Project Purge" as of yesterday.  This is fantastic for me as, since I've begun the simplification process last month I have really begun taking a serious look at my possessions (and I have many as the 'hoarder' gene definitely embedded itself in my DNA!), and having a (somewhat) 'deadline' means that I am more likely to tackle those areas I've planned to talked about attacking for quite a few years. 

Though I am rather late off the bat in discussing Week 1's focus, I thought I'd do it anyway - if only for a personal visual record of my efforts.  In Jen's first week, she began by placing her focus upon the entryway, or rather, one's SHOES.  Now, we don't really store our shoes in the entry of our house excepting a pair of thongs and sneakers for easy access when we go outside; but my shoes collection in my room had begun to look like noone loved them!  


Unfortunately most of my shoes I had pre-motherhood and, as I still weigh approximately 13kgs (27 pounds) heavier than I was before I fell pregnant [5 kgs heavier than when 9 months pregnant, and have lost 6 kgs since the beginning of February], my feet are still a lot bigger than when I was able to wear them and thus many no longer fit.  This helped in my decision making, though I still kept one or two pairs which are slightly tight as I am aiming to be weighing even less than then by the end of the year.


Before

A good four or five years back, when there was a sale on clear shoe boxes at Coles, I purchased a whole heap of them intending to use them to help me organise and store all my collection.  Since having my daughter I haven't touched many, leaving most in their boxes for years and me forgetting I had them.  A lot of my pre-motherhood shoes were also high heels, a style I rarely wear these days due both to my added weight and the fact that it is so much harder running after a enthusiastic 'little tacker' in heels than it is in flats.  Nowadays I only wear them at church, since I rarely go out without my daughter and haven't been on a date for over four years.

After

Once I collected all the shoes together in a central place (my daughter likes grabbing ones she thinks are 'pretty' to toddle around the house in *grin*) I was able to really see what it was I owned.  Those I knew I wouldn't wear again, due to size and/or comfort (I need more padding under the ball of my foot than I seemed to need all those years ago), immediately went to the "give away" pile.  From the remaining shoes I then paired down some of the similar styles so that I didn't have quite so many double-ups - especially since I seem to really only wear certain shoes 'all' the time rather than others.

I also pulled out the shoe organiser I bought from Target almost a year ago, and put that together, before dusting out the bottom of the cupboard and putting everything back (I plan to attack my closet in the next few weeks as I get everything washed and ironed, and I'll do a more thorough clean then).

It looks so much clearer now - and a lot easier to see what I have!  The two pairs in clear shoe boxes (yes, I kept two - but two dozen are on their way to the op shop as soon as my car is back from the shop for repairs) are my 'old' ballroom dancing shoes.  Even though I haven't done it for years, I plan on getting back some day - and since they were expensive and still fit they're staying! My short faux 'ugg's are front and centre as the dry season will be upon is in a couple of months (Darwin weather is 6mths 'dry season' when we consider it to get cold, and 6 months of 'build-up' and 'wet season' when it gets all hot and humid before bringing glorious thunderstorms like no other - oh, and the cyclones).  The pink suede with brown trim heels at the bottom of the organiser are slightly tight - ie, I couldn't walk in them, but I can get them on - are staying as I LOVE them, and am hoping to wear them again one day soon.  The rest is a collection of black or brown heels of various heights.

Below are the shoes that are headed to the op shop ... 

I HATE to give away the three pink pairs on the left, mainly for the memories they carry, and the silver ones in the bottom centre-left were my bridesmaid shoes, but I decided I need to be ruthless - and most of them don't fit now anyway.  They are all well-worn, but if I don't give them away, I know they'll just hide away in my closet.

That's 9 pairs, and if I add to that the 11 bags (and dis-regard the two Huggies boxs worth of books, spare stationary supplies and other goodies) I also purged this month, I am well on the way to exceeding the "30 items in 30 days" amount.  So far so good!

Project Simplify: Hot Spot #5

Since the beginning of March, Tsh from Simple Mom has been encouraging her readers to participate in a 'simplifying' project, whereby she's challenged us to 'tackle different areas of our homes', in order to both remove clutter and simplify our lives in however small a way.


Over the last five weeks, we have took on our Master Closet, Paper Clutter, Kids Clothes & Toys and Pantry & Fridge, leaving this last week to our own devises in respect to choosing which area to tackle.  Considering the long list of areas which I really need to declutter, I narrowed it down to the main bookshelf in my bedroom.

Before

I am a self-confessed hoarder and have found it difficult to part with 'things' in the past however, since finding Tsh's blog and reading the posts, I have become more malleable in respect to considering whether or not I really need to keep an item - or whether someone else may be able to use it better than I do, especially when it has just been 'sitting there' for more than a few years.

My bookshelf seemed to be the a main collection point in my bedroom as you can see ...

The bottom shelf was piled high, the drawer chock-a-block full, and with all that weight on the shelf, I had to jerk the draw in order to get it to close!  Also, since I hadn't attacked it properly for almost three years (during my 'nesting' phase!) apart from the occasional dusting, it definitely would not have passed a 'white glove' inspection!

After

Well ... after quite a few hours, a few uplifting music cds and quite a few glasses of Pepsi Max, I have successfully de-cluttered and simplified my bookshelf, leaving it looking FABULOUS!!!  

I almost can't believe this is my bookshelf!!!!  In my life I have NEVER been able to purge this much stuff - this many books!!!

I have one whole Huggies Nappies box + one QBD plastic shopping bag chock-a-block full of stuff to go to the Op shop.

I also got rid of two plastic bags worth of rubbish, or things that really couldn't be passed on, eg., workbooks or journals partially filled out in years past.

I even organised my books a lot more efficiently - at least for me.

Christian books sit on the top shelf -primarily non-fiction titles, though some Christian fiction titles made the cut.

The second shelf holds titles on such topics as:

• "activities to do with children" 
• "craft titles"
• "motherhood and being-a-woman advice titles"
• "fiction and inspirational titles"
• "good food and recipe books", and finally
• various titles which don't fit anywhere else.

The last shelf holds my Harry Potter books, classical music collection, further inspirational titles and my youth Bible.

The drawer is also a LOT less cluttered and more organised than before.  I actually purged half a plastic bag of medicines which were all out of date, some dating back to 2008!!  

The cupboard below has also been purged and is almost as unobstructed as the third shelf above.

It is amazing how good I feel now that this bookshelf is no longer dis-organised and confused.  I still have to drop off the items to the op shop - my car has been out of commission since end of Feb - but I know that once I get through the difficulty of handing over the items, I will feel even more cleansed!

Previous Hot-Spots

Although I didn't get through the weeks' dedicated to the Master closet and Pantry/Fridge, I was able to tackle my second closet which houses my daughter's clothes and my desks in the lounge where the majority of my paper clutter collects.

I didn't get a before photo of the closet, but if you can imagine this space (almost 60 x 140cms in size) chock-a-block full then you can get an idea of how tight it got in this area.

I could barely get my daughter's clothes in there to hang them up, let alone getting into anything that was in there.  The laundry hamper (woven hamper in the bottom left) was previously sitting outside the closet, as space prevented it to be hidden inside.  One of the major purges was my bags collection, which now fits in the black & white bag and the top clear box - 4 went to my daughter's dress-up collection, 2 went to my fabric stash to repurpose, and 11 bags are headed to the op shop.

The second area I really got stuck into was my desk area in the lounge-room where I do my university studies, watch dvds and do my crafts.  The first two images show the 'before', while the last shows my nicely clean and clear 'after' table space.

To finish off this, rather large, post I want to thank Tsh for her timing in promoting and directing this mass de-cluttering project.  Your words have inspired me to continue this simplification throughout all areas of my physical world.

** To see other participants' efforts this week click here.