I spent most of the day yesterday in the guest room. I knew this was going to be a tough nut to crack since it is one of the two rooms that we dump all the “I don’t know where this stuff goes” junk into.
Compounding my issue is that I really hate how my closets and cupboards are utilized-they aren’t really well organized and things have been shoved in places for the momentary cconvenience of getting it out of the way–not because it’s the best and most logical place for the stuff to live!
So to make everything even MORE complicated I decided if I was going to take charge I REALLY needed to take charge-and that meant emptying out the closets and cupboards of all the crud. Since said crud doesn’t have any place to go-I had to make my front parlor/living room the repository of all homeless stuff until I get the main couple of rooms cleared and then can start putting that stuff into new homes.
Yeah-it’s a HUGE project. See why I’ve been putting it off?
Anyway-I started yesterday with this:
That closet door you see? It’s packed with framed pictures and plaques from our military days. That cupboard built into the wall? It’s got a TV and 5 or 6 boxes of old 3.5″ disks.
Yeah. That kind of stuff.
That pile of stuff on the left is actually the top shelf of an old baby changing table-all three shelves were FULL of stuff. And behind us you can’t see a built in that goes from floor to ceiling stuffed with sewing supplies.
Here is what we had at about noon:
Now you can actually see the changing table & there is much less stuff on the floor.
By the end of the day that end of the room was completely cleared and the closet and cupboards empty. Still some work to do. . . but I’m getting there.
Here’s to a productive day! To see in progress shots and thoughts-make sure to follow the Frugal Upstate Facebook Page! I’ve usually got my iPhone on me and like to snap photos and throw them on there as things happen 🙂
I’ve been going crazy with clutter, as well. You are keeping me on task 😉
I think I would take all the photos and plaques from the military and group them, maybe in shadow boxes, and hang them on the walls. Photos are no fun if you can’t see and enjoy them. Have yo considered selling the excess items? Maybe try some baskets to contain like things in less cluttered space. We did that in our kitchen and pantry, and it makes a huge difference. This way, I can pull out one basket of spices and herbs, and have everything in one place. When I finish, it all goes back into the basket and back on the shelf.
Good luck with your cleaning! I’ve been using the Fly Lady system (http://flylady.net/) for organizing and have found it very helpful. It’s all baby steps, you know!