Our month of May is a little short due to family plans so I want to keep this months goals simple (simplify hahaha) I was looking around my house and one key thing started to emerge. . .. things seem to get set down wherever because they have no home. Whether it be no home to live permanently or no place to put things that need to go somewhere (i.e. downstairs on the next trip or where to put things in the basement until it is time to put it away.)
A Place for Everything and Everything in its place
I was going to write a post on the joys of a small house but instead, I'm writing this plan. When you do live in a small house with many bodies (both human and animal) space is at a premium and if things don't have a specific home, they quickly become clutter. My dining room table is a huge "hot spot" - it is my storage table, craft space, laundry holder - you name it. I don't like it. If I'm working on a project, everything piles on the table and stays there for a week (I always try to do a wrong room rescue on Friday's to put everything away . . .) To try and put a project away means carrying it back downstairs which than means I probably won't work on it again for awhile. So . . I need to make some solutions. That is my goal for this month. For this one I'm kinda going room by room more than anything so excuse the odd list . . .
1. Dining Room - re-evaluate all knick knacks keeping only what is loved; clean up piano area (books, etc)
2. My Desk - clean out the cubbies and label everything (started this project months ago but ran of label maker tape in the middle of it)
3. Kitchen - clean out again - I did this once but I'm still finding that things pile on the counter tops because it is easier than putting them away which tells me that my cupboard organization is NOT working. I need to be brutal and get rid of things I don't use/don't love and than make sure that I can put things away easy. Part of this project will be making a wish list of the organization items I want and than slowly saving for them.
4. Basement - this always blows up and I hate it. There is so much stuff down there that I have organized and cleaned but it needs even more. There is something else driving me on this now - Darryl's new job. Eventually, down the road (a year or two most likely) we will (hopefully) move closer to his work (the 2 hour round trip commute just makes his very long day, longer). I recently looked at the basement and said to myself "I do NOT want to move all of this STUFF!" so, like the kitchen, I need to be brutal on what I keep and what I don't. Surprisingly, I'm not a hoarder, but there are still things that I kept because I "might use them" someday.
5. Craft and Scrapbooking Supplies - Because these items have changed homes about 10 times over the past few years they are just a disaster. I need to do everything from going through scrapbook paper and cleaning out the junk, to testing all of my markers and throwing out the ones that are bad, to finding a simple way to organize craft stuff for storing for future projects. This is the only project on this list I began to touch this past month - I started by sorting through all of my scrapbooking paper and am in the midst of reorganizing it.
6. Garage - we usually clean the garage in the spring and I want to look at this the same way as the basement - get rid of stuff I don't want to have to move eventually. Now, I will admit, this room is harder because my husband has more say ha! But, hopefully, I can convince him to get rid of some of the things that the previous owner left for "us" (meaning he didn't want the hassle of moving them either!) We've talked about doing a coating on the floor since the kids go in and out of there all of the time to get toys and want the floor nice and clean for them but I'm not sure that will happen this spring. We didn't even have time to think about this yet and now, it is super hot, so I'm not sure if this will get dune until September!
7. The Stairs - I saw a simple tutorial for now to make a step basket and would like to make one. I've looked for one for years but they are expensive. I'd like something at the top of the stairs that I can stick books in or just odds and ends that need to be taken down on the next trip without needing to put them on the counter in the kitchen. I also want to set up a basket downstairs where I can put the things that need to be stored - not the things that already have homes, like books, those need to just be put back, but rather things that need to be put away in storage. I also want to dedicate one day a month for putting those items away.
I think that is more than enough to keep me busy this month!!!
You can check out all of my SIMPLIFY posts to check on progress.
1. Dining Room - re-evaluate all knick knacks keeping only what is loved; clean up piano area (books, etc)
2. My Desk - clean out the cubbies and label everything (started this project months ago but ran of label maker tape in the middle of it)
3. Kitchen - clean out again - I did this once but I'm still finding that things pile on the counter tops because it is easier than putting them away which tells me that my cupboard organization is NOT working. I need to be brutal and get rid of things I don't use/don't love and than make sure that I can put things away easy. Part of this project will be making a wish list of the organization items I want and than slowly saving for them.
4. Basement - this always blows up and I hate it. There is so much stuff down there that I have organized and cleaned but it needs even more. There is something else driving me on this now - Darryl's new job. Eventually, down the road (a year or two most likely) we will (hopefully) move closer to his work (the 2 hour round trip commute just makes his very long day, longer). I recently looked at the basement and said to myself "I do NOT want to move all of this STUFF!" so, like the kitchen, I need to be brutal on what I keep and what I don't. Surprisingly, I'm not a hoarder, but there are still things that I kept because I "might use them" someday.
5. Craft and Scrapbooking Supplies - Because these items have changed homes about 10 times over the past few years they are just a disaster. I need to do everything from going through scrapbook paper and cleaning out the junk, to testing all of my markers and throwing out the ones that are bad, to finding a simple way to organize craft stuff for storing for future projects. This is the only project on this list I began to touch this past month - I started by sorting through all of my scrapbooking paper and am in the midst of reorganizing it.
6. Garage - we usually clean the garage in the spring and I want to look at this the same way as the basement - get rid of stuff I don't want to have to move eventually. Now, I will admit, this room is harder because my husband has more say ha! But, hopefully, I can convince him to get rid of some of the things that the previous owner left for "us" (meaning he didn't want the hassle of moving them either!) We've talked about doing a coating on the floor since the kids go in and out of there all of the time to get toys and want the floor nice and clean for them but I'm not sure that will happen this spring. We didn't even have time to think about this yet and now, it is super hot, so I'm not sure if this will get dune until September!
7. The Stairs - I saw a simple tutorial for now to make a step basket and would like to make one. I've looked for one for years but they are expensive. I'd like something at the top of the stairs that I can stick books in or just odds and ends that need to be taken down on the next trip without needing to put them on the counter in the kitchen. I also want to set up a basket downstairs where I can put the things that need to be stored - not the things that already have homes, like books, those need to just be put back, but rather things that need to be put away in storage. I also want to dedicate one day a month for putting those items away.
I think that is more than enough to keep me busy this month!!!
You can check out all of my SIMPLIFY posts to check on progress.
