Decluttering: I don't know when to stop.

Apparently, I'm nesting. Only 17 weeks to go until this baby arrives, and I am determined to have THE ENTIRE HOUSE reorganized and ready long before my due date. I know I'll be too tired and won't want to do anything but knit little booties and sew little dresses by June. (OH! Did I just give something away?!)

We have a smallish, old-fashioned house that requires creative rearranging to accommodate our growing, ever-changing family. This includes regular, ruthless decluttering. Of which I have done very little in the last year.

The baby goodies are already arriving -- but what will soon be the nursery is currently my craft/curriculum/storage/library. Two bookcases and their books, a desk and all its clutter, my scrapbooking and sewing supplies have to go Somewhere Else.

One of those places is this closet:

Nope, nothing else is going in there until something comes out.

My problem is, I can't just pull a few things out of a closet. Once I decide to start organizing, I have to empty EVERY CLOSET IN THE HOUSE so that the whole place looks like we've been flying over Kansas with Dorothy -- collecting everything but the cow passing by as we go.

First, though, I made lists of everything that would need a home somewhere. (This I started weeks ago.)

I started thinking about what big items needed to go -- the dresser in the bedroom closet that was not working, the rocking chair that was cute but never comfortable for nursing, the boys' desks that I repainted for the school room two years ago and haven't been used since last May. And I decided we should have a yard sale.

On Monday, I started pulling everything out of the closets. And then I realized I was coming down with the flu. By Wednesday, three of us were in bed sick, and my house still looked like this:

Stuff was piled everywhere waiting for the yard sale.

But, no matter, because my main closet had gone from THIS (before):

To THIS (after)!

Top shelf: Blankets, sorted by knits, fleece, and quilts
Second shelf: Seasonal items in tubs: Snow, birthdays, swim, and crafts.
Third and bottom shelves: Games, craft supplies, and homeschool baskets.
Floor: Gift wrapping supplies. And an EMPTY tub!!

And I wasn't quite finished here. I now have storage on the back of the door for the gift wrap, and I was able to move some sewing and scrapbooking tubs out of my office into the bottom of the closet.  I still have more sorting through craft and school supplies to do, too.

And check out my bedroom closet (BEFORE):

And AFTER (so far):

I'm still working on this one, too, but removing the dresser and adding the tubs and shoe cubbies made a HUGE difference! I found shoes under that dresser that had been "missing" for over a year. :/

The tornado spewed the rest of the mess onto the lawn Saturday morning, and after we made an entire $3.75 in six hours of yard selling (plus $75 for the dresser from someone who saw it on Craiglist), we loaded up the rest to take to Goodwill.

Now to finish the boys' closet...

I'm participating in Project: Simplify 2012!

Decluttering: Because I love to show off the inside of my fridge.

Tonight's the deadline to participate in Project: Simplify's Pantry/Fridge declutter week!  Obviously, I don't want to miss a chance to win a new cookbook!

So, here's what I did while my boys were at the park with friends on Thursday, and I was supposed to be taking a nap...

The BEFORE:

And AFTER:

This was mostly a matter of dumping moldy leftovers, wiping shelves and rearranging things a bit. I also picked up a couple tubs at the $1 store this week to organize cheese and lunchmeats. And now I can actually see what food we have!  (Who knew I'd bought so much cheddar?!)

Last week was also Kitchen Decluttering Week at Modern Parents/Messy Kids, which inspired me to get some serious unpacking finished. Last weekend, I worked on the two corner cabinets, which had been awaiting shelves. Oh, were things a dusty mess after 10 months of remodeling!

Before:

And AFTER:

 

I'm not quite finished with these two, since I have a few more boxes to unpack, and I'll probably rearrange things some more. I do love the vertical, tension rod space for my baking sheets and muffin pans!

I'm also awaiting open shelves above the "Breakfast Corner" of my countertop, but I bought some pretty glass jars at World Market, and it was time to put them to use!

Before:




After:

What I've been up to.

Sheesh, a month without blogging? Can I say it was somewhat intentional even though I didn't tell anybody? Can I say I gave up blogging for (part of) Lent?

Well, bloggy friends, I miss you. Life has been crazy, but I want to try to come back here. This blog needs some serious updating, but that will come eventually.  For now, I'll just update you a bit on what I've been doing.

1) Growing a baby. (I could stop right there, couldn't I? Isn't that enough?) And eating a lot more than when I was nauseated all the time!

2) Knitting for the baby -- especially now that we know which variety we're having! :)  And yes, I will share those projects (and other details) eventually!

2) Finishing the kitchen. (One coat of a paint at a time. Don't worry, it's low-VOC and I wear a mask.)

3) Attempting to make sure my children are learning something.  Littlest has miraculously managed to teach himself to read fluently in the last few months. And his math skills are ahead of schedule. So, while I have much guilt over various other unmet needs during this remodel project, at least that's done.

4) Moderating two different homeschooling groups -- one a discussion/info group on Facebook, the other a social/activity group that I've belonged to since my older boys were babies, and was asked to take over in October.

5) Organizing and hosting a six-week lecture series on homeschooling for our public library. Totally worth it, and I was sort of sad to see it end, but it did take a bit of time and energy.

6) Organizing and decluttering. Slowly. Very slowly.

7) Pinning ideas for these topics to keep myself motivated. You can find me on Pinterest here:  http://pinterest.com/crunchyxianmom/

I wish I were better at blogging about these things as I do them, but, well, I'm just not. Better late than never, right?

What have you been up to lately?

Spring Cleaning: the junk drawer

I haven't started any real spring cleaning yet, but I've been meaning to post this for a month...

So, a few weeks ago, when I was faced with the need to empty my entire kitchen of stuff, I figured out a way to get the boys to help -- and think it was fun.

I dumped the entire contents of our junk drawer...

...into a plastic trash bag. Then, after the bug-killers were gone, I got out a bunch of wide-mouthed pint jars that would fit in the drawer.

I told the boys I had a sorting game for them! Yes, those boys love to sort. They actually think sorting laundry is fun! (I'm not sure why I don't take advantage of that more often.)


They sorted paper clips, screws, crayons, rubberbands, batteries, birthday candles, tacks, and all sorts of junk. They sorted until their little fingers could sort no more.


And I was left with a MUCH more functional "junk" drawer.

It's the little things that count, really.

Closet: before and after

We did make it berry-picking yesterday, and had a lovely time. But first I have to show you my organized closet! (It's all about priorities...)

My mom came over again this afternoon to see what I needed help with. (I definitely needed help. Despite the transformation you're about to see, I have much transforming left to do in the parts of the house that will actually be SEEN by Monday night's company.) Apparently my clean fridge had inspired her to do some organizing at home, and she was on a roll. I was happy to be in her path. :)

Here's the before:


Somehow everything had gotten completely mixed up since the last time I did this. Swimming suits were hiding among skeins of yarn and toilet paper, and I couldn't even get the doors closed all the way. Blankets were scattered around the living room because I couldn't squish them in. And outdoor toys and totes were piling up in the corner behind the door on the right.

And then, as if by magic...!



Isn't it beautiful? On Thursday I sorted yarn and craft supplies into separate tubs, put all the swimming stuff together, all the camping stuff together, and gave the toilet paper and baby wipes their own tub. Today we refolded all the blankets, sheets and towels, and pulled out six Trader Joe's bags worth of stuff to donate to Goodwill. That was the hard part for me -- deciding what to part with. My mom was my objective perspective!

Have I mentioned that I really like order and organization? Even if I'm not so good at maintaining it!