It's progress at least

I have not been as busy de-cluttering this week as I had hoped, but I did manage to get my clothing and shoes moved from the master bedroom to the spare bedroom.  At first I thought this may be a permanent fix, but now that my stuff is out, I can see the space a lot better.

This is a pic of my closet before I emptied everything.  The words in the box just explain that I don't want you the viewer to see my undergarment that is behind the box.

So this is what it looks like when it is clear.

The next step in this process is to come up with a plan for all our clothes.  There is a dead space to the right of our closet.  On the other side is a small closet made to fit into that same style of space.  We are considering a few options that involve lumber and nails :)

Meanwhile downstairs I was able to get the large cabinet in the dining room cleaned out.  Now, instead of much odds and ends, the cabinet has more sensible things in it, such as some office supplies (the office area is just off of the dining room), placemats and pot holders, small tools for use around the house, flashlights, and such.  On the top of the unit there are two plants and two decorative items from our Chinese exchange students whom we housed a couple years ago.  I have pulled all of the other items off the top and set them aside, as I do think they have a place in my home, I just do not know where.  

Now that I am coming out of the muck of clutter, I am looking forward to the organizer lady to come and hopefully have some great ideas of where and how to put stuff.  

Remember how I told you my sweet husband worked on and cut that desk for me?  Well here are the photos. Thank you Monica for suggesting that I put them up.  

Sweet labor of love

So Monica reminds me that it is a process.  I think I finally understand what she is saying.  As most of you know, I equate this process to losing weight in a lot of ways.  If a person were to wake up skinny, they would not have put in the hard work and practice to be able to keep the weight off.  In all this de-cluttering, and seeing spaces transform into open, clean, freedom, I have noticed a change in my behavior.  I now see a reason to make sure my counters are cleaned off in the evening, and socks to be picked up off the floor.  Oh, by the way, I know why those random socks keep ending up all over the house.  It's courtesy of one of the furry occupants living under this roof.  There are other small things I have been changing.  I have noticed certain things that lead to messes, like not putting something away.  I am the biggest offender of setting something that belongs somewhere, near where it belongs, but not going the extra step and storing it.  

Here is an excellent email from Monica:

Miss Jolene,

How blessed are you to have a handy man. He had a vision and executed the project. Perfect!

My advice is to get the TAPE measure out and tape a visual on the wall and floor. This will give you a better perspective of the units dimensions and if you like it. Take a step back and talk it over together. 

Great coffee table for the sun room. It will allow more storage and a place to set items on. 

Monica,

Your Personal Organizer

This is the table to which Monica is referring.  It is so pretty!

And check out this powerful advice!  

Hi friend,

I totally understand about needing to set things in order before delegating out. You will get to a place of simplicity and serenity. Sometimes it looks like it's getting worse before it gets better. Patience 

This process is not just about gaining lost order, but questioning ourselves along the way as to how we got there. It sounds to me that you are incredibly determined and motivated to implement and practice new systems that will keep you organized. You are retraining your brain. In this journey you are also modeling to your family " how to get organized". 

Time management comes in many shapes and forms. It applies to many sections of our home as well. You have a 2-story home which means that a distribution box of some sort needs to be in place on each level. It does not make sense to run upstairs with one one or two items. Collect them over the morning, noon or night, then run them up to the rightful places. Better yet, delegate It! 

As you are de-cluttering play a game with yourself and the family. Pretend you are about to move again. When you moved from Astoria you scaled WAY down. Your house was on the market and you new potential buyers would be super snoopy. With this mindset it might push you to think differently. You were ready at any given moment to let any person roam free in your space. You were confident of its appearance and proud to show it off. Trash, donate and recycle are your key new words to changing your mindset and obtaining the organized house you desire. 

Just a thought for today,

Hugs from your personal organizer,

Monica 

Trash, donate, and recycle ARE my new key words!