Remodeling This Life

Last week, before I left on vacation, I went crazy decluttering. I think by now, people are going to think that my house is one big clutter-ville. It’s not. But I have a lot of stuff, in closets, in drawers, etc…upon first glance, it’s all neat and tidy and wonderful but I still have boxes and bins and drawers that are holding things for me that I just don’t need anymore.

I spent the first little while of this decluttering bonanza thinking what a fool I have been to have kept any of these things, to have held onto things that have little or no value to me anymore. Then I realized it. That is just it. They don’t hold value to me anymore. It was okay to keep them when they did mean something to me and it’s okay to part with them now because they don’t. Whether it’s tablecloths that I once loved but just aren’t my style anymore or shoes that aren’t practical for my life today, or clothes that are too big, too small, too whatever. I have these things because at some point in time, I loved them. I don’t have to beat myself up for having accumulated or kept them to begin with.

As I grow, my priorities and tastes will change. Things that I have today will probably be brutally slashed from my home on another declutter purge in the future. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have the things I have or keep what matters to me today. So as I continue to shift and change and want different things for my life, it’s okay to get rid of stuff that I spent money on, even stuff with only sentimental value. One day, I thought it was important to hold onto old letters from friends. I got rid of a lot of them. Not because they don’t mean anything to me today, but they mean less to me today, and I am learning and turning into someone that would rather hold onto memories than words. Think of the laughter with friends in place of the words we wrote to each other when we were little.

I also think of my mother, who is in the very laborious process of going through dozens of boxes that are her mom’s. Because not much is labeled, my mom has to assume that it all means something to her and is afraid to get rid of anything. I don’t want someone someday to go through my things and feel the need to hold onto something that means nothing to me simply because I couldn’t take the time and care to only keep around me things that make me happy and mean something to me. I am marking my photos with names and dates. I am only keeping photos that bring a smile to my face. It doesn’t lessen the value of what I don’t keep. But I am being brutal. I only want around me things that if I am not here tomorrow, someone can go through my things and know who I am and what I value by looking at them.

In an effort to create some new storage solutions in my living room - particularly on a couple empty shelves of our entertainment wall unit, I did this little project.

It’s not fabulous, perfect, or wonderful, but it works and it beats paying retail for the baskets that I covet.

I took an empty diaper box and wrapped it in pretty scrapbook paper and voila! Storage for my living room.

No matter how often I feel like I am tidying, decluttering, putting things in their place around my home, it’s like it just never ends. Things pile back up if I slack off for a few days. I start to feel overwhelmed all over again. It’s a never ending battle. The bills and papers that come into the house, the art projects that get done, the toys that find their way under my feet all day long, everything that seems to stray from it’s rightful place to the other side of the house. It’s hard to manage it all. Well, it may be easier to manage it all if it’s ALL I did but I don’t want it to be all I do. I want to enjoy my days with my kids and not stop every 10 minutes to put everything back where it goes.

When I look at a room that is overwhelming me, there are a few ways I can go taking care of the stuff.

Throw it Away - If I don’t even let the stuff end up on a surface to begin with, I’m winning the battle. It is amazing to me how many things that have zero value end up on shelves, countertops, and tables in the bat of an eye. I can go through my house at any given moment and find 20 things that can be thrown away. Not things of value, but rather things that are just completely junk that have made their way around and settled on top of a kid’s dresser or a kitchen counter or the entry shelf. It’s amazing. And I don’t feel like I have an overwhelmingly cluttered home - the stuff just appears by way of the clutter fairy, I think!

Store it - I see in magazines all the time all these storage solutions like pretty bins and baskets and such and all I think is gee, my clutter isn’t really worth dropping hundreds of dollars on bins at Target to store it. And never mind that often just finding a pretty bin to put it all in is masking the problem. I have bought bins, I do store things in bins and I love me some baskets to keep things in - especially in the living room - they’re very handy for tossing small toys in and putting on a shelf so there are toys in there to play with for the kids when they aren’t in the playroom. I have to ask myself before buying a container or storing something if it’s worth it though. Is what I am going to put into the $20 bin worth spending that $20? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. A bin on my computer armoire to hold camera accessories and cords and batteries and SD cards is reasonable since those things are worth the value of what they’re stored in. If you’re using a $20 bin to store stuff that you don’t use, need or want just because it’s easier than parting with it, though, it may be time to question that.

Empty the junk drawer - Sometimes I can’t even get our junk drawer open, it has so much stuff in it. I know, embarrassing. At any given time, there are dead batteries, a hammer, maybe the toenail clippers, some princessy hair bows, whatever. It’s just unbelievable. That drawer is just another way to mask the problem. Someone can’t see it when they walk in - FABULOUS! Or not. Just get rid of it already and use your drawers as much more functional space.

Shred it - when you finally decide to go through all that paperwork, get out that handy dandy shredder, and let out some angst. I know I love the whirring of that shredder and seeing stuff destroyed. I am a little bit crazy, if you didn’t already know. And once it’s all shredded and you have that big box or bag of paper, you can turn it into garden mulch. What a seriously cool idea.

If you’re anything like me, you may find that the more space you create in your home that is clutter-free the more space you are creating for positive things to enter your life, like more time to relax and enjoy your family and actually enjoy your home. You won’t realize it until it’s done and the clutter is gone but it is freeing, relaxing, invigorating to not only feel accomplished at getting the task done, but also at being able to breathe in the space that you spend so much of your time.

Other clutter busting posts from around the web that you may enjoy are

Queen Declutterer
Decluttering With Children
10 Ways to Reduce Clutter and Clean Up Your Act

I have had it. Over the past 3 days, I have slowly been working my way through the playroom. Instead of just tossing toys and having a huge meltdown happen courtesy of our 3 1/2 year old daughter, I let her be part of the process. I explained simply that my brain was going to explode I was feeling overwhelmed by the toys and constant cleanup and tripping over magnetic alphabet pieces and wooden blocks was making me crazy. She was really gung-ho about it. Couldn’t wait to help. She started by choosing all of her favorite toys and putting them in the bag. Um…NO. I may be a decluttering nazi but I am NOT a fool. I know better. I knew we had to be realistic about this. So slowly we ridded the playroom of many more than 10 items. Some she was okay with, others not so much, but I am feeling mellow and in the end, she understands that a child only needs so many primary colored plastic toys.

Now, here I am, asking all of you. Anyone out there that has just been itching to buy my children gifts - DON’T BUY THEM TOYS. So many go unused, untouched, unappreciated. And not because of any reason other than that there are just too many of them. We live in a small home. 7 feet of tents and tunnels is not practical, Grandma. So even though they were on sale at Marshall’s and you just couldn’t pass up the deal, we don’t need them and we don’t have the space for them. It would’ve been SO MUCH COOLER if you’d sent a $50 giftcard or put $50 in a bank account or sent $50 so we could’ve spent an afternoon as a family experiencing something that the kids would have memories of to last a lifetime.

I know that it just feels so good to pick up something tangible and put it in a box and wrap it up and put a bow on it. It feels so much more loving and giving. But it’s not. All you are doing is adding to our stress level. I don’t want to sound unappreciative, I’m not. It’s wonderful that anyone wants to do anything for my kids. I just want you to know that there are better things than toys to offer them. Things that won’t get outgrown, things that will be used, things can last a lot longer and add much more value to all of our lives. So, please, when it comes to your mind to buy one of my beautiful children a gift…think of me tripping over them, picking them up, swearing softly mumbling under my breath, and then think of the smiles and memories that would come from learning and experiencing something new from a gift that will last.

Thank you.

I posted the other day about needing to get to work on simplifying the kitchen. I am not done yet. But I have made some huge progress. I am embarrassed to say that I forgot to take pics before I got started and I refused to mess everything up again just to make all of you happy.

My goals were to

Declutter the windowsill

Here is a pic from weeks and weeks ago. It wasn’t this bad when I got started yesterday but it wasn’t all that great either.

And this is after a good purge

Keep the countertop as clear as possible
I have eliminated everything from the counter except the coffeepot, the spoonrest by the stove, and my knife block. Not too shabby. Oh and for today, my crockpot was there but that is just because, well, we need to eat. It’s put away now

Make items used daily more readily accessible
This was really already done, but here is a pic of the stuff I use all the time in the kitchen - my Ikea utencil and knife magnet bar, my teakettle, my favorite pan, and my knife block.

organize the pantry

Also, in organizing the pantry, I got the task of putting all my baking stuff up high. That stuff is all in the canisters on the left on the top two shelves.
All the extras of our pastas and rices are way up high. Enough coffee for a small army in case there is a total disaster and hubby can’t leave the house for 5 years. Also enough peanut butter for said instance. As we move our way down that pantry shelf, the stuff on the bottom shelf is what is opened and used regularly and as those get finished, stuff will make it’s way to the lower shelf and we’ll restock the upper shelves.
along with that lovely upper cabinet I just shared the cabinet below it houses all of our canned goods. You should’ve seen Eli when he saw me get ready to do this project. It is his favorite place to climb in there and knock those cans out and make them roll all over the floor. He’s been very good so far though.

Don’t worry, nothing is alphabetized. And now you see what happens when I, an underbuyer marry an overbuyer. A frugal one though! Hubs stocks up at sales!

I still have to organize my lazy susan full of spices and clean out the fridge. But I am so happy with the progress so far!