Week 07 February 17, 2012

29 Day Challenge Follow Up I finally made it to the closet and thanks once again to Laura's system: Clothes Purging ~ How To Let Them Go I did two loads of laundry, purged what I could, and organized the rest. I cannot remember where I saw this method for storing t shirts but I really like being able to see everything so easily. Previously, the ones on top were the only ones worn over and over again. Pulling a shirt from the bottom made a mess that usually just stayed where it was until the next week. I plan to color match the shirts for even easier identification at some point but right now the point was just to purge and organize. The closet had been organized somewhat about a year ago making it easier this time. The biggest problem as I eluded to before I began was getting to the closet. I had magazines, a number of shoes, luggage, a rocking chair piled high withjunk clothes. I now have a functioning closet no matter how small it is. I was also fortunate to have a neighbor throwing away his closet organizer. I have always wanted one but cost was a concern along with the size of my closet. I have 2 nice rows of shelves on top along with 2 and 1 1/2 on the bottom for shoes. This one fits perfectly next to the closet. It holds all of the shoe boxes I had lined up in the closet, all the shoes that had been on the floor, and the drawers are currently empty. The hanging shoe bag and over the door purse rack were from the shopping trip my first week. The clothes in the highboy were folded, placed in categories, and returned using this new method I found on pinterest. I was able to add all the clean clothes that had been sitting in the laundry baskets into the drawers by folding and placing them up right. It is also easier to see what I have. I probably need to purge more but since everything fit into the drawers now I will save the second round of purging for the last week after the surfaces are cleared of all the clutter. Finally, everything on the dressing table was removed. The poor magnifying mirror broke over 25 years ago but I have not been able to find another one quiet like it and I love it (when you reach your 40's you will understand, LOL). The drawers were cleaned out, once again they had piles of clothes in front of them making them pretty much useless and half empty. I am looking for any and all SUGGESTIONS for this corner space. This room has either a door, window, or closet on every wall. There is not one solid wall. In order to fit the dressing table and highboy I need to place them on adjacent walls leaving either an empty corner or this table from my Great Aunt. If anyone has any ideas on a better placement or organizational idea I would love to hear it. "Get yourself a limiting container so you know when enough is enough" Laura, Organizing Junkie

29 Day Challenge Follow Up

I started with Laura's PROCESS steps:

Plan of attack:

Plan your project before

you start.

Remove items:

Empty the space completely

so you can start from a

clean slate.

Organize into piles:

One each to donate/toss/

sell/keep/relocate.

Sort like with like.

Containerize:

Containers and other

storage solutions establish

limits and boundaries.

Evaluate your plan:

How is your system

working for you? What

needs to be modified?

Solve and simplify: Address anything that isn’t working for you and revise accordingly.

Smile, relax and enjoy your hard work!

orgjunkie.com

The stack of magazines in front of the closet were from early 2010. If I haven't read them by now I doubt that I will, besides the information is 2 years old already. Out they went. Tax papers and medical bills were also included those were relocated to my desk to be sorted later. Back in the 90's when they were supposed to be cool, I bought one of the round bed side tables with a glass top. Normally, it should have a cloth matching the bedding but I think I took it off a few years ago to wash it and never put it back. It never really fit beside my bed because it was so big, I could not even open the first two drawers under the bed fully. However, I have a very nice "telephone stand" that belonged to my Grandmother that I love and it fits perfectly. I switched them out and added storage drawers to keep the dogs from getting into my treasures and medication.

I used to have a shelf system against the wall at the end of the bed, however my son needed it for a while, eventually it ended up in another room. After much deliberation I decided to purchase a new one. It used to work well for organizing my stock pile of medications, toothpaste, travel size freebies, scrapbooking supplies, and such. The current system is not working the top is a mess and I cannot get to the lower boxes without having to move every thing.

Finally, I started to work my way through the piles in and around the opening of the closet. I can not work on something I can not get into. I found old purses that I would never use again and were not in adequate shape to even give away, a box of sock, a partially filled box of give away items, a bridesmaid dress from last July I am trying to sell, sewing projects, and luggage.

Thanks to Walmart and Target gift cards I had received at Christmas everything I purchased only cost me $50.00 out of pocket. I also bought a few other things that may will be used for compartmentalization later. I am actually surprised at how well I have done so far. Classes are going well and since I was trying to work ahead I was able to accomplish all my class work including 5 papers along with my clean up. Next week I will be tackling the closet, dresser, and dressing table.

29 day challenge.

I started my 29 day challenge yesterday. Here are the before pictures. I am embarrassed to post these but it always seems to look worse in pictures so maybe it will help me get motivated. Normally I would use the start at the top method of organizing however in this case I cannot get to the top. I will have to start on the floor cleaning up enough to be able to get to the dresser and closet before the end of the month.
Closet

DresserTV stand

Feb - Daily Challange

This is the website that inspired me to "clean up" my life for good. I have gotten off to a great start but one area certainly lacking a fresh start has been my bedroom. It has become the place where I hide all the junk I clean up but don't want to part with yet. Truthfully it has become a small pathway around my bed with the walls and floor closing in on me. It is time for a small diversion 15 minutes at a time for one short month to bring peace, harmony, and health back to my bedroom.

Week 04

I am still attempting to finish last week's closet organization. I have a pile of recycle still sitting, a number of old phones to drop off at the police station, and a box of light bulbs to relocate among other various odds and ends. I also have a number of coffee cups from dish sets. We use the dishes but I don't think we ever used the cups, likewise, I doubt we ever will, those will be packed and wrapped for the next donation pick up. School began last week and I am taking 2 classes for the next 8 weeks leaving little time for anything much less organizing. While cooking eggs for breakfast one morning I started to quickly sift through the cabinet over the stove. No time for a before picture. But here is the after:

I added the adjustable wire shelf. Before, everything was stacked on top of each other making opening the doors a hazard from falling food. It turned out to be a great time to tackle this area because I found bugs in the whole wheat pasta. Even they are eating healthy these days. Five or Six boxes of pasta went into the trash and all new boxes will be placed in plastic bags or sealed glass containers immediately.

Week 03

Watch out Belle there may be an avalanche. That closet is stacked up to the point it is dangerous. You cannot tell by this picture but there is a 38" x 19" floor in there. The closet is over the basement stairwell, therefore it gets increasingly deeper with each shelf. The middle shelf is 2.5 feet deep and the top one is just over 3 feet deep.

We had most of the plastic containers in the closet but could never find a lid no matter how hard I tried to keep them together. We also had some in a deep drawer in the kitchen. Rani cannot believe the drawer it now empty. "Where did it go, Rani?" It is all now matched and neatly stacked in the closet thanks to Florica.

I can even step into the closet. I realized I had way to many paper plates so we will be bringing a number of those down to the camper we keep in the country for weekend getaways. Those pink tubs are full of plates and cups. Paper bowls are stacked up on the center shelf and more packages of plates are on top of a new wire shelf I had purchased years ago but could not get DH to hang. The brace can be seen in the upper right hand corner. I now have some place to hang my guest's coats.

Classes begin this week and I have chosen 2 classes this quarter. The History class looks like it will require an extreme amount of work and writing assignments. I anticipate smaller challenges for the next eight weeks.

Week 2 began with a look at my daughters room. She just moved into her brother's old room in Aug when he moved out. One would think her room would not need purging or organizing in such a short time but it did. Here is the before. First was her dresser. The book shelf was a mess and vertical space was not used effectively.

The second area was her closet. We had run out of boxes and nothing was where it was supposed to be, shirts mixed with shorts, long sleeve and camis all together...

After a complete purging of her clothes we have 2 boxes of give-aways. Then during a quick run to Walmart for organizational supplies we found these great pink sterilite boxes on clearance for $3.00. We bought all they had (16). I would have liked to have gotten clear boxes to make it easier to determine what was inside but for the price I went with the pink and they match her black and pink room. Once I find my label maker I will be able to label all the boxes for easier identification.

It is much easier now for her to find what she wants and as a bonus she personally cleaned up her desk before I could even get pictures. I had planed to tackle that area my next round in her room. Hopefully she can keep this up for a while.