Project Organize Final Edition- Furniture

Well, folks, Project Organize has come to an end.  We have cleared more stuff out of this house than I ever imagined we could.  Did we cut it by 50%?  No.  But quite honestly, though there is still some to go,  I feel the need to stop boring you and move on.  Let me assure you we are still on the band wagon, with the garage and outdoor "stuff" to come once the weather warms up.  IF it ever warms up! 

Here is another load ready to go...

 

Don't ya know that the people at Goodwill are starting to wonder about us!

 

Anyway...last on the agenda for now...FURNITURE!  We do have a lot.  Most of it was given to us and most of it I love!  My in-laws have a thing for antiques and have passed on many things to us that we cherish!  (sorry friends, you can't have those!)  But along the way, and to fill out various military housing, we have acquired extra pieces that need to find another home.  NOW!  We are ready to scale down...won't our movers love us?  It is a slow start, but it is a start.  Wonder why I have a harder time parting with furniture? 

 

 

 

 

Local friends- you want it?  Make an offer.  :)

 

Project Organize has helped us declutter.  But more than that, it has helped us re-prioritize and remind us of what is important.  Friends are important.  Stuff is not.  Memories are important.  Do-dads are not.  Family is important- clothes are not.

 

Clutter not only takes up space but it takes up precious time, energy and thoughts.  I want to use that time wasted spent with my family and friends instead.  I want to use that energy making a difference in the world.  I want to use those thoughts on things that matter.  May the Lord use this all as a lesson I never forget.  Let me learn from the experience and not go back to old habits and ways!

 

Thanks for sticking with me!

 

 

Project Organize- Bye Bye Clothes

 

 

I want to start this post by telling you up front I am not a clothes expert!  Far from it.  The girls and I have often joked that I needed to go on What Not to Wear.  Except of course, that words of affirmation are my love language and they would surely make me cry.  So I wear pretty simple stuff I like and can afford and hope the amazingly dressed people get noticed more than I do.

Quite honestly, it is not something I have a lot of time for.  Yes, I like to look, and therefore, feel nice, but friends - I have four kids.  I homeschool them. I have a house to clean and a husband to love on.  And shopping, honestly, doesn't do much for me.  Except frustrate me.  So I do not do it often anymore.

But, boy did I use to!  And through the years I have had the piles of clothes to prove it.  Way too many!  They tend to collect and take over just like all the other things in our lives.  I have even gone through other phases of dumping stuff on the curb, but this is one area that tends to take back over quickly.  Can anyone relate?  Please?

For those of you that have been following Project Organize, you saw the stuff we cleared out of our bedroom closet.  It was a lot of stuff.  And since then I have been determined not to go backwards.  Ever!  Too much stuff, too many choices.  And I do not have time for choices. 

A word about my style - I have had people ask me, "What are you so dressed up for?" 

Answer: for me, for my husband, and for my day!

 

With few exceptions to the rule, I simply get up and get dressed for the day - not for an event.  In my closet you will find:

-everyday clothes

-church clothes

-military-event dressy clothes

 

In a drawer in my dresser you will find four sets of "grungy" clothes that I clean in, paint in, workout in and garden in.

 

That's it.  Because I have found when you have an outfit for this and an outfit for that and oh yeah, an outfit for that, someone I can get carried away and end up with more outfits than one can possibly need.  Or should need.  And you end up with too many choices.

 

I have also learned that I do better with minimal color choices.  Go here or or anywhere on pinterest and you will see gals telling you to pick a color palette and stick with it.  Then you can mix and match and end up with more outfits using less clothes.  While I may not be good at it, it is a great way to think.  Do my friends get tired of seeing me in the same clothes?  Maybe.  But at least they are nice enough not to tell me ;)

 

 

 

I now have hanging in my closet:

10 sweaters/cardigans

2 white button downs

10 blouses

10 tank tops (to wear with a sweater)

One gray Jacket

1 pair of gray pants

3 pairs of black pants

1 pair black jeans

2 dark jeans

Church clothes (3 skirts, 1 dress pants, matching tops)

 

Minimal?  Maybe.  Boring?  Maybe.  But freeing! 

 

Cutting back on everything from dishes, to toys, to clothes, has freed our home of clutter and my brain from stress.  And yes, even my heart from guilt!  And I have loved every minute of it.

 

Hope you will join us next week for our final Project Organize: Furniture!

Project Organize- Pens, Pencils and glue-oh my!

How many pencils are enough for one family? 5, 10, maybe 20?  Certainly not more.  And yet we have a lot more.  How about pens?  And glue? And, you get the idea.  It is starting to feel like an office supply store around here.

Not sure why we have so many of each.  Not even sure where half of it even came from.  But I am pretty sure we have enough to last until the rapture.  I mean, really, when was the last time you remember throwing out a pencil or pen?  And yet we still buy more.  Those silly back to school sales get us every. single. time!  We don't even GO back to school here- we school year round.  And so all those supplies begin to gravitate throughout the house.  A few here, a few there, until they are everywhere.

I thought the stacking plastic bins were the answer.  And they will have to be for some items like folders and notebooks.  But they, too, seem to be multiplying and taking up more floor space than I like.  Oh, how I would love to open a closet and actually see the floor.

And so this caught my eye. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/107593878570124386/

And I have been debating it ever since.  (see why I am not a huge fan of pintrest?!  Those images call my name and then haunt my dreams!)  After a long debate with myself, I gave in, bought a $5.00 shoe organizer, and decided to give it a try.  What do you think?

Adult stuff at top, kids stuff at bottom!

For now, I have decided not to label the pockets.  I fugured we could see what was in them!  ;)

A little more floor space!  We keep the block basket handy for when little people come to visit.

In the spirit of decluttering, I will note that I did throw out a lot of old pens and dud pencils!  Even a few sparkly craft items left over from the girls that I am pretty sure the boys are NOT interested in. And now I have cleaner drawers and fewer plastic bins. 

I have even seen this done with toiletries!  What do you think???

Blessings!

Join me next week for Project Organize- Clothes!

Project Organize- Under the sink and in the cabinets and a word about Stuffed Animals

This week is an easy one for me!  I love to open cabinets and see nothing!  Or at least very close to it, so this is one area that containers, whether plastic or even baskets, are my best friend.  I tend to be a little AR about those areas, but even the best of us let things slide a little.  So here is a peek at a few of those areas!
Under our kitchen sink had gotten a little out of hand....

 

So I fixed it!  It still seems like a lot to me, but that area houses our cleaning cloths as well as our cleaners.  The bins hold batteries and light bulbs.  I was tired of having to reach high up for them in the laundry room, so this seemed like a better place.

 

Here's a view of the master bath areas...

 

Under my sink.  The yellow basket holds cleaning supplies for upstairs,  Don't let those familiar bottles fool 'ya, they are being recycled!  ;)

 

 

Under hubby's sink...

 

 Linen Closet.  Holds our towels and all medicines in the blue topped container.  Also have bins for stockpiled soaps, shampoos, toilet paper, etc.

 

 

And a random thought...my boys own too many stuffed animals.  Despite the fact that we have only allowed them one or two in the past few years, they still have too many.  In a recent discussion with a friend, she said they had managed to get theirs down to five per child.  FIVE!  (and not to be sexist, but that was for a family of girls!)  I was inspired.  One boy at a time, we took all the stuffed animals and laid them out.  That is the easy part.  Now choose your favorite five.  Pretty easy.  Now choose five you would like for someone else to enjoy.  Not so easy.  We had to work through this several times, and never did narrow the field to just five, but we did cut back a lot.  Maybe next time we get it cut down to five- you never know!

Easy storage- pop up clothes hampers!

 

 Hopefully blessed someone else with a few loved stuffed animals.  They are hiding under the other stuff in this picture...you know, no reason to flaunt the fact that they are on the way out!

 

What are YOU cleaning out this week?

Blessings,  

Project Organize- Teen's Closet

I was going to post about my teen's closet when I did our closet post, but after seeing the mess, I told her she had earned a post all to her own.  (should have made her write it for punishment.) I did help you write it.
R's comments are in blue.

This child can be neat.  Really, she can. Here is the inside of her desk...

I really am an organized person...

But open her closet and you might think about running for your life.  She has a problem with clothes.  She has too many!

So first we pulled them all out and put them into neat piles on the bed. (They really are neat, you just can't tell.)

I also have a lot of scarves. We worked on that too.

boots!

See how clean the closet is?  Then we tried on, threw away, put in stacks for Goodwill, put wrong season stuff away and started over!  We also had a discussion about less is more, the value of saving money and on and on.
It's much easier to choose outfits now that I have less stuff. I don't stand at my closet every morning staring at my clothes, wondering what to wear. Less stuff, less decisions.

The final result-

see? isn't that lovely? and I've kept it clean since we cleaned it out.
I really am organized.

 

Happy mom, happy teen!

 

 

Next week- a peek under the sinks, in the cabinets and a chat about stuffed animals!

Project Organize- A Peek in the Bedroom

It's not often I invite people I don't know into our bedroom.  Actually, not even people we do know usually.  I know that a bedroom is supposed to be a quiet refuge, a place to go to relax.  But ours- not so much.  At least not on a regular basis.  Instead it seems to be the catch all.  A place where things pile up, get stored and take up residence, whether they belong there or not.  It doesn't help that because we are in a rental home, our "office" and all that encompasses is in our bedroom as well.  Yes- desk, computer, papers, files, and more papers.  It's all in there.  And usually in disarray!

After our closet purge, I decided it was time to stop avoiding the bedroom and get busy.  I failed to take as many before shots, but here is one of what the desk typically looked like.

Pitiful, I know.  I think because this space is not on the main floor it is an area that we do not work at and so things just get stacked and forgotten.  NO MORE.  Not only did we clean it up, but we moved stuff out. 

You have got to love a shredder!  This entire black garbage bag, yes, that is the super sized one, is full of shredded papers.  I do not want to even tell you how long we have been hanging onto some unneeded paperwork.  That bag alone probably just cleared out another 20 pounds.  I kid you not.  The movers are going to love us.  Lean and mean!  haha

The second problem spot is my bench.  This is not the one that always sits at the end of our bed, but there is usually one there of some sort, depending on what house we are in.  It is always covered.  Always. 

So now it is not!

And it is going to stay that way! (It helps that our house was suddenly put on the market, but that is another story and I am determined not to go there!)

We also purged from nightstands and my dresser, even leaving an empty drawer.  Can you believe it?  Hubby's dresser is housed in the closet so it was in last week's purge.

The final result- a clean, uncluttered, retreat!

Now to keep the kids out!
Speaking of kids, see 'ya next week for the teen's closet!

Project Organize- The Closet

I just want to start out with- UGH!  This was a hard one!  This is one I have been avoiding for weeks.  This is one I almost did not take pictures of because, well, you know, it is embarrassing! But, as my daughter would say, for the good of the mission, I did take pictures and I did tackle the closet.  And I am glad it is over. 

Actually, we tackled the closet!  My dear husband came along for the ride.  Isn't he dear?  I think he was afraid that if he did not I would just throw all his stuff away and call it good.  (I thought it was a good idea!)  It took us hours.  Several!

Something else you need to know before we move forward- this closet is huge, but it also just about our only storage other than the garage.  So yes, it holds a lot more than just clothes.  It has files.  It has luggage.  It is my gift closet.  It holds all our family's winter clothes.  It has extra linens. (read here, tons of curtains and such that have been used in one of our 12 homes and someday may be needed again.  Let's not go there right now.)

Here is what we decided going in.  (Can you tell I am stalling showing you pictures?)
-  We have too much.
-  We are trying to downsize!
-  We should not hang on to clothes that are 20 years old. (not naming names)
-  Someone else could be blessed by the extras!
-  Sometimes it is not a matter of does it fit or is it used, but instead, how much is too much? and how much is enough?   You know, that whole justification thing we do, "yes, I like this"?  But do I need five of this?  Or ten?

So, keeping that all in mind, and knowing you all will not judge...

 

This shot shows the luggage and piles of stuff that should be put away.  What it does not show well is that the two shelves above it are packed with STUFF!

 

Did I mention the treadmill lives in there too?  This shows my side, stuff that should be put into the bins but that never quite makes it, junk, junk and more junk.  If you could really see the shelves at the end of the room, well, let's just say, they are almost out of the picture for a reason.

 

After hours of work...

 

Here is the pile of things we took to the Goodwill in town. Yes, you counted correctly, that is 11 bags of stuff plus an extra backpack and a few things on the other side you cannot see from this angle.

 

This is the stuff that was deemed complete trash and headed out the door to the trash can.  Sigh!

 

 

Here is the same shot of the suitcase area.

 

 

Here is my side.  The totes are still there, as that is the only storage place we have for them, but they are now organized and labeled better (love a labeler!)  Extra bags- gone!  Extra shoes- gone!  Extra clothes- gone!  Were some cute?  Sure!  Were they all needed- NOPE!  What you see there are my everyday clothes, church clothes and still-probably-too-many military "occasion" dresses. (again, let's don't go there right now!)  I want to talk about clothes in more detail, but we are going to save that for another post that has been rolling around in my brain for a few months.  See, even the shelves at the end look better.

 

The hubby's side.  I have to hand it to him, he did great!  My husband is a "just in case we might need it" saver, but he got rid of A LOT!  I just kept saying, if we die tomorrow, do you really want our poor kids to have to deal with all this stuff?  Nice, I know, but oh so true!

OK, so how do we keep it at this level and not slide back into the old ways?

First- our No Spend January and No Spend February have helped a lot in seeing what we need and don't need!
Second- Resolve to put things away at that moment.  Don't save for later, it never comes.
Third- Repeat after me, how much is enough?
And fourth- take a look at all those things we get rid of, quickly think about how much money you spent on those things and realize how wasteful we are being.  Good stewards of our money?  I think not!  Shame on us.

Spending money just to spend money SHOULD make us feel badly.  If you need something, go get it.  If not, don't!  Just yesterday we went by Bed, Bath and Beyond and I saw that beautiful yellow clearance sign and it called my name.  Seriously!  I had to tell myself and my husband who was laughing at me, YES, I want to see what is in there and yes, I could surely find something, OK - lots of things I liked,

 BUT- NOT. ONE. THING. DID. I. NEED!

 

How about you?  Do you need to let go of junk?  Do you need to stop buying things that are not necessities?  Do you need to declutter? 
 

I challenge you to take the first step today.  Pick one small project, can I recommend NOT the closet, and get started.  You will not regret it.  And I am cheering you on!

Next week, join us in the bedroom.  To organize, that is! ;)

 

 

Project Organize- The Fabric Stash

I have admitted before that I have a thing for fabric.  Among my other "things"!  I love the feel.  I love the colors.  I love the stores.  I love it all.  So in the past I have bought a lot of fabric.  Not, mind you , in the past month...it was No Spend January, remember!  And the madness, I mean savings, continues this month as well so no fabric this month either.

Anyway, since my oldest is also a fabric queen, her sewing room becomes a tad messy sometimes!

This is just a small part of it.  And in my defense, this part is mostly hers.  (sorry ALP!)  Yes, my minimalist daughter has a fabric thing too.  Ask her to your house to organize and clean and you have called the right girl.  She is ruthless at tossing things out and a pro at cleaning.  Unless you have fabric.  And then, all bets are off and you have lost your help!  Seriously, the man that marries that girl one day better love, or at the very least, be able to tolerate, fabric.  And lots of it.  She makes clothes and pillows and quilts and she LOVES fabric.  She got it honestly.  (The fabric part, not the sewing part.)

But she has redeemed herself since she made this mess.  Pinterest is her friend and she found the neatest solution to her, I mean, our, problem.

Yes, that is an old filing cabinet.  It is actually one that I have been begging my husband to move out of our lives.  It is a heavy piece of furniture we have been moving around for 20 years and every time we move it I am convinced the movers say bad things about me behind my back.  Looks like it is staying now.

With a few (or a lot in our case) file folders and a little patience...

look what you can do!

Amazing, huh?  It is as simple as wrapping the fabric around the file folders and pinning.  Because this file is quite old, it does not have the hanging capabilities and will not be quite as easy to thumb through, but the files work just as well for organizing.

Since she is back at college for a few more months I have been trying to finish up her project.  I still have a ways to go, but off to a good start.  For pieces with not enough yardage I just folded them as neatly as possible and stacked back into one of the crates we were using.  See how nice it looks?

And, no, ALP, I did not throw much away.  Really! ;)

Next week in Project Organize- The Bedroom Closet!  Clothes and more!