Week 2 -- Day 2 of Decluttering

Today, I quickly tackled two more drawers. These are drawers that both hold random utensils that rarely get used, but some do get used.  You'll see in the pictures that I utensils I kept, are still split across two drawers, but I could easily combine them later.

Random Misc Utensil drawer before

Emptying and sorting as I go, from left to right: Keep, Relocate, and Garage Sale

After and organized drawer. You'll notice that the Iowa State spatula has moved from the garage sale pile into the drawer to be kept. Jesse got home as I was sorting through and informed me that he does in fact use this when he grills. I thought he used others that we have but I guess those are too short. Good thing I checked with him!

This is the Misc and mostly knife drawer before. Eeeesh couldn't tell on my phone this was so blurry!

Same here where I've emptied the and sorted the drawer the left pile is to keep and the right pile is for the garage sale, and the little pile at the top are to be thrown away. Don't worry we aren't knife-less now, we have a block of knives that sit on the counter.

And here is the after. As you can tell both drawers aren't full so could be combined. But right now I'm afraid that if I combine them they'll just get all jumbled around and won't be easy to access the items when we need them.

Start of Week 2

Well, it's a good thing I was extra motivated last Sunday. Because not only have you not seen any updates here, but there haven't been any updates to report. That's right. I went through the whole week ignoring my most recent challenge. Part of me wonders if it was because I mentally already knew I had made my 'quota' for the week. We'll find out how this week goes I guess.

Today I decided to go through our junk drawer, which I'm sure is something that should probably be looked at once a month.

Here is the before. It doesn't look to horrible, but that's because a big notebook is covering nearly all the contents. The drawer was pretty full.

I emptied it all out on the counter.

Then made three piles. From Left to Right: Trash, relocate to another part of the house, put back in the drawer as neatly as possible.

And here is the end result. Now, no it's not too organized, but with the hodge podge of items in this drawer, I'm not sure there is a way we can make it organized. Considering we probably grab a phone charger once a day or so, no use in wrapping them up all neat and tidy, right?

Plus, here's the question of the day; should a junk drawer be expected to be nice and organized?

My Next Challenge: Decluttering

Yup. Decluttering. Honestly, it has been something that's been on my mind for quite some time. I've been reading the Becoming Minimalist blog for a few months now, and last year for my birthday I requested and received The 100 Thing Challenge. So really, minimalism and decluttering have been on my mind for over a year.

I already go through phases of purging possessions on occasion, usually in one focused area. But this time, I'm going through the whole house. I have a plan and am setting goals, plus hope to track my progress here. Of course, knowing me, this plan comes in the form a of a list. A categorized list in Excel format to be exact.

I've broken down each room (right now excluding the basement and garage) into bite-sized chunks. Maybe even toddler bite-sized chunks. When I get 3 weeks into this and the high of my new challenge and list checking wears off, I want my weekly 'tasks' to be easy to accomplish rather than daunting. So, what's the challenge you ask?

115 areas to declutter in 6 months
See --- I told you toddler bite-sized chunks.

My plan is to attack just 5 areas each week. How I got to a whole 115 is be breaking each cupboard or drawer into it's own item. So, down the road, tackling one drawer during the day won't be too big of a deal. I realize some weeks will be more productive than others, that's why I'm not planning for 7 items a week. At the end of the 6 months I'll have gone through the main living areas of our home and will have a big pile of items and we'll hold a garage sale or find places to donate.

So, now that you know my challenge and the simple plan of attack, here is what I accomplished today, a full week of items, five kitchen cupboards! This week is going to be one of those highly productive ones since I'm excited to get going!

Before:
These 2 cupboards don't seem that full, but after unloading them and weeding through the items we haven't even used the 2 years we've lived in this house, it proved there was more than I realized. Items just taking up space that we don't use.

This is nearly everything that didn't go back in the cupboards. I have some jelly jars to give back to Mom, lots of glasses for the garage sale and a group to go through with Jesse. See, this is all of our stuff I'm going through, not just mine. He needs to be all in on this too. It wouldn't be right for me to give away an item that means something to him that I didn't realize. We ended up keeping most of that group that I checked with him on.

The cupboard afterwards, only one side filled up! It felt so freeing since I know eventually I want to remove 4 of our cupboards so we can take down part of the wall and make the space feel more open. Being able to open up more cupboard space feels great!

I went through 3 more cupboards. Not a whole lot in those changed since I'd recently gone through them, or they are small enough where only items we use fill them up. Here are the after pictures:

The other benefit of going through these kitchen cupboards, I'm cleaning out the shelving too, which I've been putting off. I'm excited for the week and to see how much more I can get through!

Do you go through phases of purging your possessions? I'm hoping this process will open my eyes to some things that I buy and then don't use so that I can stop myself buying it before it gets stashed somewhere and then given away later.

More Organized Home - Day 13

Day 13 Assignment from Money Saving Mom

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great
       I even showered first thing this morning! (Something that I usually do at night) I got dressed in my favorite pair of jeans, a white and blue striped t-shirt and mustard yellow cardigan. And some fun red shoes when I went out to lunch with co-workers today!

:: Make a list of 5-7 specific tasks to work on today that will help you reach your week's goals
       - Wash any dishes in the sink - COMPLETE
       - Day 13 assignment - COMPLETE
       - Work on blog post other than this series - In Progress
       - Work on a Christmas gift - In Progress
       - Work on crocheting a scarf if/while I'm sitting around, not working on the above

:: Set timer for 15 minutes and do a quick clean of your bathroom
       Done! My morning getting ready supplies (aka makeup bag and hair brush) consistently get left on the counter! Here are the before and after photos.

:: Clean the top of your kitchen cupboards (if there is space between them and the ceiling) and refrigerator. If there is any clutter up there, go through it and see what you can get rid of or find a new home for. Wipe down the outside of cupboard doors.

       Done! All I really had up there was a bit of dust lounging about. Swiped that up, wiped down the cupboard doors, and then for good measure wiped off the counters as well.

More Organized Home - Days 11 & 12

Day 11 Assignment from Money Saving Mom

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
       I went into the office today so it was kind of required to get dressed for the day. A simple white sweater and jeans worked!

:: Make a list of 5-10 goals for this week
       - Keep up with this more organized home series
       - Stay on top of the dishes --make sure the sink has no dirty dishes in it before going to bed
       - Write at least one post other than this series
       - Start crocheting a scarf
       - Visit with a friend

:: Set the timer for 15 minutes and quickly pick up your house
       This was something that I did on over the weekend after having visitors for Thanksgiving.

:: Clean out your silverware drawer
       This was pretty simple! I had just taken everything out to use for the holiday so there wasn't much left to clean out. I got off pretty luck for this day!


Day 12 Assignment from Money Saving Mom

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
       I know, excuses-excuses...but I was feeling extra tired this morning so I changed into sweatpants to stay comfy while working. I know the thought probably is if you get dressed and ready for the day you will feel refreshed and ready for the day. Guess I sent in the opposite direction.

:: Make a list of 5-7 specific tasks to work towards today to help accomplish your goals for the week.
       - clean up the dishes and empty the dishwasher - COMPLETE
       - follow the more organized home series - COMPLETE
       - work on the scarf while relaxing with Jesse and watching The Voice - will be complete later tonight!
       I kind of skimped out today, but don't worry I'm fully planning on sitting in front of the TV all night, which means I'll make a lot of progress on the scarf! :)

:: Set the timer for 15 minutes and vacuum the main living areas of your home.
       Skipped this today since I vacuumed multiple times over the weekend before and after bringing in the Christmas tree!

:: Clean your microwave, stove top, and/or oven.
       Again, I got away pretty easy here. I just opted for the microwave and stove top. I got off pretty easy since I scrubbed the microwave in preparation for Thanksgiving (but it was good to wipe it out again after all the turkey day leftovers we've been warming up!) and my lovely sister-in-law scrubbed up our stove top while she was here on Thanksgiving.

Here's to hope the rest of the week feels just as easy!!

More Organized Home - Day 9

Day 9 Assignment from Money Saving Mom

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great today
        As a special request has come in that I document these clothes that make me feel great each day, I may try to start posting a picture daily. So without further ado, my clothes: Yellow and cream striped shirt with light blue tank top and bright blue skinny jeans. (Don't pay attention to the messy bedroom - obviously it didn't stay clean very long after the day it was assigned last week!)

:: Make a list of 5-7 specific tasks to accomplish today based on your week goal list
       - Go watch a friend's band play (will be heading out soon!)
       - Day 9 Assignment (in the works)
       - Buy any supplies needed for my Christmas craft list I'll be working on next week. (COMPLETE!)
       - Okay, that's all I'm asking of myself to do today....

:: Set timer for 15 minutes and do a quick clean of your bathroom.
       This is definitely something I should be doing weekly, considering all of my hair that falls onto the floor and makeup that gets left out! Maybe eventually I'll start 'deep cleaning' specific parts of the bathroom more often to...but that might just be a pipe dream, folks.
Before:

After:

:: Clean your light switch plates
       Look at me! I was all on top of this yesterday so already had this task complete! Wahooooo

More Organized Home - Day 8

Day 8 Assignment from Money Saving Mom

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great today.
       Well, going two days in a row felt good to me today. Maybe tomorrow I won't wake up with a headache and tension in my neck that makes me want to stay snuggled up while I work. Didn't change my ability to work! Still got a lot done during the workday and was surprised what got accomplished around the house after I closed up shop!

:: Make a list of 5-7 specific tasks to accomplish today based on your weekly goals
       - Work on my TV stand project (COMPLETE - spent an hour on it today. Getting close to being done!)
       - Shop for some hardware and shelving for the TV stand project (COMPLETE!)
       - Check out Hobby Lobby for some crafting supplies (COMPLETE!)
       - Buy a turkey for Thanksgiving (COMPLETE!)
       - Move furniture around in the basement with Jesse's help (COMPLETE!)

:: Set timer for 10 minutes and go through your messiest dresser drawer.
       Well, I didn't completely read this part until just now typing it out. The messiest dresser drawer part is what I missed. I just read messiest drawer. So, I went through the sort of catch all drawer in our kitchen.
Before:

After:

:: Wipe down all door handles in your home
       I tried to be a little bit of an overachiever in this category. Not only did I wipe down all the door handles, I also wiped down all the light switches....it was pretty easy considering light switches are generally next to doors.

Wahoo...what a great feeling of getting so much accomplished!

More Organized Home - Day 7

Day 7 Assignment from Money Saving Mom

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
       I decided wearing something to make me feel great today included feeling comfy, so I was in sweats today! ;)

:: Make daily task list based on your weekly goals
       - Day 7 assignment (somewhat complete)
       - Second coat of paint on the TV stand project (complete)
       These were the only goals I set for today, knowing that the TB stand project would take 1.5 - 2 hours

:: Set the timer for 15 minutes and vacuum the main living areas of your home.
       I had just vacuumed a couple of days ago, so I decided to skip this task. I cleaned out the car from yesterday's task, which just ended up being taking some garbage out of the doors and receipts out to be filed.

That's it for today! Hopefully see you tomorrow!

More Organized Home - Day 6

Day 6 Assignment from Money Saving Mom

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great
       I went into the office for work today, and it was a cold one. I chose jeans, brown sweater, cream scarf and red shoes to wear.

:: Make a list of weekly goals to accomplish
       - Keep up with the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home series
       - Finish my dresser to TV stand project
       - Have Jesse help me rearrange the basement
       - Watch a friend's band play on Thursday night
       - Go home to see family over the weekend

:: Set timer for 10 minutes and quickly to a pick up through your home

:: Set timer for 10 minutes and clean out the inside of our vehicle

       I did not end up doing either of these tasks. My TV stand project took up more time than I anticipated and then I decided to do a little bit of work the rest of the night (yup, right up until bedtime) so I don't feel like I have to check in while I'm on vacation next week.  Hoping I make the time to go through the assignment on Day 7!

Busy Weekend of to-do's!

In keeping up with Money Saving Mom's 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home series, which runs during the week, I made a giant list of goal's to work towards over the weekend. I intentionally made the list waaaay too big, knowing that I wouldn't be able to get through the whole list. But, my thought was that I would have plenty of options to choose from if some of the tasks didn't appeal to me at the time. I'd say it definitely worked! I got quite a bit done!

Yeah, I'm going to share my list and give myself a pat on the back for getting as much accomplished as I did.

- Sand the top of the dresser we are working on transforming into a TV Stand

       DONE! First thing in the morning on Saturday I got after this task. It was a warm 70 degree day here in Iowa, and no doubt the last one we'll have for quite some time!

 In.Progress photo:

- Mow

       DONE! Jesse handled this task for me and ended up only mowing the front lawn because it started to drizzle and we weren't sure how much the rain would pick up. Didn't want the back to be half mowed and then never finished

- Cut back hostas 

       DONE! I did this while Jesse was mowing. 

- Catch up 'date' with a friend

       Unfortunately, her little one was sick, so this has to be postponed (hopefully not for too long!)

- Cheer on the Cyclones

       DONE! Well, kind of. It wasn't a great day for ISU, so I got a little tired of watching it and went off to work on this list. See above sanding picture...proof that I was supporting ISU from the beginning of the day!

- Clean up downstairs bathroom

       Partially completed! I scrubbed the sink and washed the mirror. But still need to put all of the coverings after painting and clean up under the sink.

- Clean/Organize the basement

       Nearly Complete! All that is left is re-arranging some big heavy items we have down there, which will require some help from Jesse this week. The garbage got filled up with some boxes and things still to be thrown away after garbage day on Monday. Someday I hope to get all of our stuff in the basement transferred into tubs. But that's for another day.

One of the before pictures....as you can see, stuff/junk everywhere!

- Clean/Organize craft room

       Nothing was done in here at all. This will have to be moved to possible be worked on during this week or next week.

- Finish the coats of oil on the headboard I'm re-finishing

       Not done at all. I took on another furniture related project rather than finishing this one.

- Menu plan

       DONE! We even did this on Saturday when I was planning on it happening on Sunday as it usually does. Yes, pizza is on the list twice...we really like pizza in our house.

- Grocery shopping

       DONE! We went shopping on Saturday, too. We thought there would be snow on Sunday so we wanted to get out on Saturday while it was nice.

- Hang up some frames in the kitchen.

       DONE!

Sunday mostly consisted of working on the basement in the morning and then Jesse and I decided it would be great if we can get the TV stand done before we host Thanksgiving. So, we went out and bought some supplies. Since it's chilly out, we rearranged the kitchen to be my workshop! So that will also give me motivation to finish the project!

In.Progress -- applying coat of primer

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home - Day 5

Day 5 Assignment from Money Saving Mom

:: Get Dressed in something that make you feel great
       Today I chose a dressier green t-shirt that I rarely wear and to make it a fun day, I added my mustard yellow leg warmers! :)

:: Make a list of 5-7 specific things to accomplish today based on your week's goal list.
       - Day 5 Assignment (completed)
       - Touch ups of the paint in the bathroom (completed - after being on the list for 3 days in a row!)
       - My weekly cleaning list, Friday is sweeping all the hard floors (completed)
       - Add to my craft to-do on my week off list (in progress)
       - Start listing out cleaning and to do items to be prepared for hosting Thanksgiving (in progress)

:: Set timer for 10 minutes and remove couch cushions to clean out any crumbs or miscellaneous items in there.
       Well, none of the cushions for our furniture come come out. So, I took a rag and wiped out the creases. Not much in there....which is good news!

:: Set the timer for at least 15 minutes and do something you really enjoy and that relaxes you.
       No timer is being set here! :) After supper, the rest of our evening is consisting of doing things that I really enjoy: hanging out with Jesse and Penny while making lists (how convenient it was part of my list of things to do today!), browsing my favorite blogs, searching through Pinterest, listening to the ISU Cyclones basketball game on the radio, and maybe even followed up with some reading!
 et the timer for at least 15 minutes and do something you really enjoy and that relaxes and rejuvenates you.

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home - Day 4

Day 4 Assignment

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.

      I had extra motivation to get dressed today. I had plans to go out to eat lunch with a co-worker! I wore jeans, brown long sleeve shirt, and long grey sweater-vest.

:: Make a list of 5-7 items to accomplish today

       - Day 4 assignment (somewhat completed)

       - Touch up bathroom paint (put off to another day)

       - Craft to-do list over week of Thanksgiving (in progress)

       - Daily cleaning list - Thursday is clean up other bathrooms(put off to another day)

:: Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick clean of your most used bathroom

       I did this yesterday with the master bathroom so took an opportunity to slack off. Of course the slacking off was much easier to give in to considering I worked much later than usual.

:: Set the time for 10 minutes and do a quick clean under your beds and furniture

       I got off pretty easy here too. Under our beds are just a couple tubs of seasonal clothes. On Sunday I vacuumed the house and even just so happened to move the furniture and vacuum underneath.

Okay, so today ended up being quite the slacker day for me, but I can always pick it up tomorrow. I'm also planning quite a weekend.  Saturday is suppose to be quite warm, so we'll be catching up on mowing, and I'll spend some time out in the garage on a project.

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home - Day 3

Day 2 Assignment

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great
       This morning I showered and got dressed first thing - Red turtleneck type thing and jeans. Simple but it is kind of amazing how much more oomph I have during the day in 'real' clothes as opposed to 'lounging-around' clothes.

:: With your list of goal's for the week, sit down and make a list of 5-7 specific items to tackle today
       - Finish non-organized series blog post (Complete and check it out!)
       - Day 3 assignment and write about it (Complete)
       - Call Mom (will do after supper)
       - Touch up bathroom paint (haven't gotten to this yet, but still have the whole evening)
       - Catch up on daily cleaning tasks (Tuesday's was cleaning - completed; Wednesday is clean master bathroom - 80% completed)

:: Set timer for 10 minutes and do a quick clean of the bedroom
     My apologies for the not so great pictures. I've been using my phone camera as it is faster to take the picture and get loaded into this post. But I'm quickly seeing if I want any decent pictures, I definitely need to be using my real camera (which is just a simple old point and shoot but obviously still better than phones)

Before picture



After picture


:: Set timer for 10 minutes and do a quick clean of your freezer
       Didn't take any pictures here, but was needed to be done for sure! Threw out some waaaaay too old food and scrubbed up some mysterious goo. I remember something had exploded in there a long time ago and we had done a quick clean up, but some serious scrubbing was still needed.

Score for making it through a third day! Baby steps people. The little successes definitely make me happy! :)

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home - Days 1 & 2

Hello there, all!  As usual, it has been quite awhile since my last post. Well, I've decided to follow along with Money Saving Mom's 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home series. Not the typical type of thing I've blogged about, but hey, why not give it a shot? After all, I'm in a constant state of In-Progress organizing and cleaning around here (more of making lists than actually organizing). Plus, maybe I'll keep up with the whole series if I feel like I need to write about it each day.

I got a 'slow' start to it, so this is Day 1 & 2 together.

Day 1 Assignment:

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.

       It just so happens that I had to go into the office yesterday so I was forced to get dressed in 'real' clothes and look presentable. The rest of the week will be a challenge since I'll be working from home and the dog could care less what I wear (though she does prefer that I wrap up in a blanket so she can sit on me).

::Make a list of 5-10 goals for this week.

       - Paint second coat in downstairs bathroom

       - Add 2 more coats of finishing oil on the headboard project

       - Follow the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home Series

       - Keep up on the daily cleaning checklist I created

       - Finish figuring out Thanksgiving foods

       - One blog post (other than these series updates)

:: Set the timer for 15 minutes and quickly pick up the main living areas of your home. (Done on Day 2)

       The before pictures (of course I have popped some Friends in to have going on in the background during the cleaning! Season 6 to be exact.)

     And the after pictures

:: Clean out your purse and.or diaper bag.

       I've been switching back and forth between two purses and my laptop bag recently so I've been cleaning up items as I go. Yay!

Day 2 Assignment:

:: Get dressed in something that makes you feel great.
       - It turned out to be quite the quirky outfit, but at least I wasn't wearing sweatpants, or worse yet, my pj's all day. I felt good in it but I most likely wouldn't go out in public as it wasn't quite matching: Green summer dress with a cream cardigan and black capri leggings. I was still a bit chilly so I put on my slipper boots and a brown scarf. For a little while I even had on Jesse's Northface jacket. I probably looked silly, but I felt good plus cozy! :)

:: With your list of goals for the week in hand, make a list of 5-7 specific things to accomplish today.
       - 2nd coat of paint in the downstairs bathroom (completed)
       - Day 1 assignment (completed)
       - Day 2 assignment (completed)
       - Blog about them (completed)
       - Work on non-organizing blog post (working on)
       - My weekly Tuesday cleaning task of dusting (don't think this will get done today)

:: Set the time for 10 minutes and do a quick clean of the kitchen
       - I didn't pay close attention to this item and I set the timer for 15 minutes...which was a good thing because I spent even longer than the 15 minutes cleaning the kitchen (it had been a mess for quite awhile)....so it definitely needed some attention.
       Before pictures


       After pictures


:: Set the timer for 10 minutes and do a quick clean of the refrigerator
       - Well, I didn't set the time for this, but I browsed through the items and threw out anything that was old. Took out the shelves and wiped them all out. I slightly organized the food, but there isn't much in there so it didn't take too much effort.

And there we have it. Two days down on 4 weeks to a more organized home! Now just to keep up with it!!