One Room at a Time: February 2006

February will be the month to tackle all the closets. I have decided to do them like this instead of lumping them in with their room. Many times I burn out before I make it to the closets or do the closets first and burn out on the rest.

entry closet - extra bags, decorations, extra school supplies

master bedroom closet

boy's closet

spare bedroom closet - wrapping paper, coats, photos, catch all

hall closet - movies, games, blankets, candles

Everything needs to come out and then go back in! most have a system but just need to be purged or the system has started to become a little unorganized!

The boys school is having a rummage sale April 1st so I plan of having several things to donate!

Jana

I am going to stay with my bedroom until next Monday, when DS goes away for a few days. I will then move on to his room. I'll make a good start then, and on his return I will have a big pile of things for him to go through and keep/throw out. I will only chuck out real no-brainer type stuff without his say so, now that he is older it's not fair to throw his things out wihout him knowing. Even if I would dearly love to 'lose' the hundreds and hundreds of Pokemon cards he's had since he was about nine....

I still have lots of stuff left, but I got tons done. But I went through 8 of them, because they were mine. The rest were my housemates. Yes, I am a packrat!!! Anyway, I am very proud of myself for getting rid of LOTS OF STUFF today. I've been wanting to get rid of that stuff for a while, I just didn't have the strength, time, or whatever to get them out from underneath the stairs. But, since this is a group home... we have the big people from the state, otherwise known as licensing coming to make sure our house is safe for us to live in. They have to do it every year. Right around spring cleaning time...... Now all I need is to find my ear plugs so I don't have to listen to certain people in this house. *wanders off looking for earplugs*

By the way, "D" doesn't always stand for "dear."

John made an executive decision: February is upstairs month. It's still cool now and the upstairs is unbearable to work in during the day when it's hot, so we're doing our bedroom, the girls' room and the hallway. Plans include dismantling most of the unnecessary desk in the hallway office and turning that space into a play area for the girls; the unused computers on the desk will go to the basement awaiting further repurposing.

We got an incredible amount done today. I filled up yet another box for the Goodwill, including some pants that are now so big on me they feel like I'm wearing a tent. Many baskets of laundry went downstairs, much laundry got put away. The floor in our room is clean. John's nightstand is sparkling. The window is spotless. Much left to do but we have a month and the start we made felt good.

Oh, we also hung the new-to-us curtains in the dining room. Huge improvement.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

I'm working on the bedroom this month, and hoping to get more done in there this month than I achieved in my office last month, but my aim this week is simply to finish unpacking my suitcase which is getting shuffled round the bedroom floor. I took out most of the obvious stuff (clean clothes and washing, obvious gifts, food...) but my SIL gave me loads of CNY decorations that I need to find a home for. Dammit... meant to get another box off my mother - she has great-sized strong boxes which her dialysis fluids come in, so there's a constant supply if you ask before they break them down!

note to self... SWITCH ON BRAIN!

Kerri.

I have high hopes for this room -- we got a secretary desk for it in Dec., and there is plenty of opportunity to improve current storage and toss. The dining room is also "children's craft area," "homework area," "piano practice area" (when using the electric keyboard), and "bill pay area." So you know there is lots of stuff ripe for decluttering!

Maybe for my piece-de-resistance I'll order some "Wall Words" like I've always wanted, and put them up Feb. 28.

I still aim to get that case up and out, but I really have to go back to my office and do it till it's done. As of yesterday we just set up a new company which will handle the franchise for the UK which DH was previously overseeing as an employee. Since I'm now a director, company secretary and shareholder, and since we'll be terminating his grossly underused external office I have to find a way to make this room work better.

the way it stands I currently have tons of food, kid stuff, medication, books, papers, assorted stationery and miscellaneous junk in here. That has to change. Of course, the chocolate mousse in front of me will be the first to go, but I think I need to keep at it and dig a bit deeper than that! I may even consider getting rid of the spare bed altogether, depending on how things go in later months.

definitely need to finish unpacking the case though!

and I need to vacuum because the dust in this house is incredible - so bad I can even see it in between the mess!

Kerri.

other than the chocolate mousse I managed to clear quite a few bits... not huge but not bad. I think the biggest problem is actually rearranging what's left so that it works properly. I have two sets of plastic drawer units, one fairly large and the other desktop size. The larger one is filled with the things it travelled from Singapore with. It's all the right stationery items but it's crammed in there and there's no logic to it at all, which drives me nuts. The other one was emptied before I moved it into the office, but it has acquired messy junk. Somehow, in the time since I used it in Singapore I've forgotten which drawer was for what, and it worked just fine then. I have an in-tray, but I tend to end up with plates and toys piled in those, so I'll have to be careful and think about exactly what i want to use it for. Meanwhile, I've found a bargain on some more plastic drawer units so I shall go and collect a couple more. Maybe that way I can split out the kiddie stuff and the arty stuff so the business stuff works better. The extras can always go under the bed, or even on top of it if necessary. One day I'll get a sheet on there... maybe!

Kerri.

so I have to hope they've still got those drawer units when I go look for them this morning. I've worked out a few of my storage needs, and I'm admitting defeat with the bed - it's gotta go. I'm going to put some free ads in our supermarkets and see if anyone will take the bed and hopefully the freezer too away - free to a good home. The bed's not bad because it was always a spare so has had little use. The fridge freezer is ideal as an extra, maybe for drinks or whatever. We already have two fridges!

reailstically we're going to need another desk in here and some more storage if we're to use this as our main office for the new business for a while. It's hard to see into the future at the moment because we're kind of waiting on other people for a bit, but I want to be ready when the S*%t hits the fan, because I already know it will!

Kerri.

found two groups in my area, so fingers crossed on those. Will have to get the items ready, just in case. The fridge freezer acquired a bit of mildew and you already know the bed's a disaster, plus I'd need help getting it downstairs.

the feeling of achieving something positive - how wonderful!

And I got my little plastic drawer units, so I can start juggling my things around a bit. YAY!

Kerri.

well I thought I'd gotten rid of the bed but not yet. It's reasonably clear, certainly enough for anyone to take it away.

tomorrow I'm going up to clear out DH's ex-office which is being terminated. It has hardly been used in the last couple of months so it was already proving fairly pointless. DH advised me to take his car so I can 'store' the crap in his boot (trunk). That's not so bad, but there will be certain items I need to absorb into the already limited space we have here, and it will all have to find homes in here eventually. I've been looking round at furniture options and general office ideas for inspiration but short of knocking down the outside wall and extending into the garden I'm not sure there are many possibilities.

I left DH in S'pore 10days ago and he's likely to be at least another 10days before he can come home. Or more... his father's health screening turned up several issues, including a small cyst on his lungs which his specialist says must be removed. Yes, he's always been a smoker so that isn't especially comforting right now. DH will likely need to hang round till after the surgery.

anybody found any brilliant organising tools, especially for small spaces and large quantities of papers. We already have shelving up the walls. I intend to get at least one magnetic whiteboard, if not two, to add to my existing corkboard. I really need a filing cabinet but they are frighteningly expensive. I guess that'll be business capital expenditure when the business' funding is actually in place. So find the one I want and then wait!

anybody else with me, doing their chosen space of the month?? It's ok, because I quite like talking to myself - I find it's very therapeutic. Hence the morning pages most days!

Kerri.

And the hall closet - done. However I am not real happy with it. I need to do some more on the organization. I did purge it!

Jana

I'm certainly keeping my eyes peeled for such a thing. The first filing cabinet my parents had cost them a fiver (less than 10 bucks) and some paint. Now that kind of bargain is what I'm looking for!

Jana - we have problems with coats and shoes and all that too. Our hall is just a bit bigger than the mat - when you open the front door the stairs and door to the living room are right there, so there's nowhere. There are lots of hooks out the back, but the dumbas* who designed our garden made it so that you have to walk across the grass if you want to use the back door. Our back grass is currently under water, so it's not the most convenient route. I just have current shoes out the front (I'm looking for shoe storage which can be put on show) and everything else has to jostle for space on the hooks at the back. It's not very convenient for guests but the kids are learning to take people's coats! Is there anything at all you could move away temporarily to create a bit more breathing space - seasonal things or items worn for specific occasions, maybe.

I really have to get to bed before it's closer to midnight than 11pm, and it's already touch and go!

Kerri.

I'm making reasonable headway with DS14's room, though it looks like a tip at the moment, with piles of various categories of 'stuff' all over the room. I moved a bookcase out of his room and on to the upstairs landing yesterday, and organised all the books in the house (two bookcases upstairs and one down). We discovered we both have more books that we haven't read than we realised, so we each have a large to-read pile now

The next job is to bring upstairs the horrible ugly filing cabinet. It is currently downstairs in the hall, full of things like candles, bin bags and telephone directories. I've decided to try to find homes for those things elsewhere as then all the homeschooling paraphernalia can go in DS' room, in the filing cabinet.

I'm hoping DS may end up with enough space in his room for an armchair, as I have a spare one downstairs. It would give his friends somewhere to sit, (and probably the dog somewhere to sleep too)

We're half way through Feb and I have not even picked a room yet. That being the case I've decided to focus on my den/office which is clearly visible when one comes in my front door.

Right now it's just a tad messy . This room serves multiple activities and it's the smallest room in the house. I have my dads old drop leaf desk in here with my laptop. I pay bills at this desk and open my mail here. Right now I could *not* close that desk if I tried. I need to do a paper purging and some filing.

I also have a tv in here that needs to be mounted on the wall, so I'll have to get DH on that this weekend. I'd then be able to get this extra table the tv is sitting on out of here.

As well, I store the grandkids arts and craft supplies in here because it's handy. I need to buy some nice baskets or storage boxes(decorative) to put this stuff in. Right now it's all piled up neatly on the floor in the corner. Not a great look!

I do my needlework in this room too, as it has great windows and tv at hand. I have a couple of projects messing things up so I will have to go down to the spare room(junk storage dump), and find my decorative folding needlework storage thingy and bring it up here.

I need to purchase a furniture item for this room. I need a long low bookshelf like piece that will be just deep enough to hold video componants. It will also need to hold the craft storage boxes/baskets. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find this before the month runs out. I'd love to get rid of the loveseat and replace it with a couple of comfy chairs, but that's not going to happen soon .

So thats it....all said I'll be thrilled to just get the filing done. How are the rest of you doing?

I emptied the ugly filing cabinet and moved it upstairs the other day. I have organised about a quarter of the room so far and it looks better already, but as always I am annoyed at myself for not progressing quicker I am determined to get this done before the end of the month.

Actually, eventhough I haven't posted on this topic, I've lurked and been clearing my stuff along with you!

In January, both my dh and I did our closets. It seemed like a HUGE undertaking as the closets had not been touched for the whole three years we'd lived here. We just piled junk in when we moved and kind of shuffled it around and tried to ignore it. We were ruthless, I mean RUTHLESS, when it came to deciding what to toss and what to keep. We had piles and piles of clothes to give to the Salvation Army. Then we organized the clothes into sections: long sleeve, short sleeve, long pants, shorts. Each section is hung from darkest to lightest (left to right.) I heard a professional closet organizer speak one day and she said it was the best way to do it. So far, she's been right. It made me realize that I don't need any more white tank tops. I also need no more red sweaters. And I'm wearing way too much black. The best part is that I'm noticing that I don't procrastinate as much on putting up the clean laundry. I think it is because it is so much easier now. Before, the closets were packed to the gills. Now there is a TON of clear space.

For February, I'm doing my DD2year's room. Her room is pretty clear with the exception of some toys I need to purge. I really hate doing that, so I've been putting it off. Also, I'll have to go through her closet and organize.

Good luck to all of you. I love this thread!!! One room a month is my pace! I wish I could do the whole house in a week, but it is just not my speed. I'm finding that organizing, however slowly I go, is good therapy for me. I feel better every time I dejunk even the smallest drawer or corner. Crazy!

Kay

John took apart the old desk and got rid of about 2/3rds of it. Yesterday Sheryl (the housekeeper) and I finished cleaning the space and made it into the girls' playroom. We laid down a throw rug, moved a couple of bookcases into a corner, put the girls' child-size table and chairs there with a lamp, and moved their dollhouse out of Josie's closet. All of their dolls and toys are now in bins or on shelves. There are pillows on the throw rug. It's a cozy space tucked under the attic eaves. I'll get a picture tomorrow.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

can we really be this far through February already!?!?!

my spare bed is still stuck where it was, and I've been stuck in the house with a potentially contagious rash (that turned out not to be measles, but was unknown to the doctor, and therefore still potentially contagious!) and two bored kids. So they've had the computer this weekend, and I've not been able to get out and get hold of whatever storage supplies I needed.

EXCUSES EXCUSES!!

progress not perfection... I am still working away at it in fits and spurts. I'm considering folding the bottom half of the bed up and putting it on its side with the mattress upright against the wall. At least that way I will feel it's really ready to go, and I won't be putting anything on it. It won't solve my immediate storage problems but it might make me feel more motivated.

Kerri.

Master bedroom closet is purged. Not as organized as I would like but I got rid of several things. I will tidy up later tonight.

We have 2 weeks left and I have 3 closets left. Will I make it?

Probably not another one today. Homework is calling.....

Jana

I know we're on a different time zone but are you sure it's two weeks Jana?? Last I looked it's only just one week!!! Pancake Day next Tuesday and that's the last day of the month. I'm all out of time for this week (half term and general chaos), but you can bet that I shall have to continue working on my office anyway. Not sure if I should even choose another area for next month or not!

Kerri.

You just have to be a no it all!!!! I really thought it was 2 weeks but this morning I looked and it is NINE DAYS!!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!

I better get movin'!

Master closet it all tidy and looks good. I will work on the boys closet in the next couple of days. That leaves the spare closet and the front hall closet.

Jana

odd kind of translation this time Becky, that takes it out of plain English and puts it into French!!! I considered mentioning Ash Wednesday being on St David's Day but thought I couldn't go wrong if I kept it simple!

I can't believe where this month has gone, yet in some ways it has dragged because I came back from Singapore on the 3rd and that seems like months ago - doesn't help that DH still isn't back.

but his stuff comes out of his office tomorrow, so goodness only knows what I'm going to do with it. I'd consider a bonfire but our grass is so wet it'd probably never light!

Kerri.

So their closet it moving right along. Really it is not in bad shape I just need to rework the top shelf and get some toys unloaded!

Jana

it was to do with Creoles and New Orleans. Admittedly my knowledge of American history is patchy to say the least!! I have a friend who speaks Creole fluently, but he's actually a Chinese from Mauritius and it's only one of his... well 4 languages really, but his Mandarin sucks or that would've been 5!

Kerri.

There are a lot of Creole dialects of course, and I have the feeling the one in Mauritius is not the same as in Louisiana!

I've done nothing, nothing at all in my chosen room. Naughty me!

How many days are left in this month? About seven right? Ok then, I can still do this if I apply myself.

Perhaps this picture I've been painting(I'm teaching myself to paint) can go in the room then I won't have to feel like I've made no effort on improving it.

I'm a tad cranky today so it would be a good day to clean the desk I suppose. I'm getting *real* fed up with paper. Yes, I *will* clean this desk up today.

Onward>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

that all Creole dialects contain a disproportionate number of swear words. It really is a fabulous language for swearing colourfully in from what I've heard.

Hope, if you're anything like me with the office you probably need to do more than just purge the papers. I would guess you probably need better systems in place for what's left too. Purging is good but can you add one single sytem which will help minimise the future mess? I'm going to buy an extra in-tray for my scrap and fresh printer paper. I think the two compartments will be enough but I haven't been able to rush out and do it, so further assessment and monitoring has been possible.

Kerri.

You're right Kerri.....I could add a trash can.

I have to move some crap in here, because the items from DH's office that didn't go in his car are still on my living room floor, and my mother's on her way over. I think I should at least move the printer!!

Kerri.

I seem to have both our bedrooms in mid-organisation chaos at once. How did this happen? Tomorrow I will pick one and get it finished. How many days do I have left? Eek.

computer room closet done!

boy's room closet done!

One more closet to go......maybe later this week!

Jana

Yippeeee!! You should just see my nice neat desk . I can actually slide my laptop into it now and close the desk when I'm not using it.

Today I have to take the little piles of organized filing to the downstairs office and file them, along with the pile of last months filing which is sitting down there awaiting my attention. Yuk!!! I hate filing and I have an easy filing system. It's the one thing I can *really* procrastinate on.

I'm not exactly swift am I! Here I am sitting and pecking and thinking of saying something about what a pain it is to have my filing system downstairs(legal size filing is in the big puter desk). I get my mail, pay my bills up here where my laptop is, then have to take the papers downstairs to file them. The lightbulb went on while I was trying to word my complaint about it all.........Why don't I just take the laptop downstairs to the puter desk on bill paying day???????? DUH!!! I never move this laptop from this spot, and keep forgetting that it's do-able. Bill paying day is coming up so I'll give it a try.

I also toured around the house yesterday and gathered up a pile of items that need to go downstairs and be put away.

Also on todays list
-a trip to London Drugs(60 second drive
-keep painting on my picture

Jana, how did you like Brokeback Mountain? Good movie in a haunting depressing kind of way don't you think. I'm still thinking about it a week after seeing it, which is probably the sign of a great movie accomplishment. So much said in that movie that was never verbalized. Kuddos to Heath on a wonderfully tortured performance. I saw Walk the Line last night, and while it's also good I liked Brokeback better.

Now that I've taken this thread off topic I'll stop and get back to work. Later all .

I got about 1/2 my filing done yesterday, the easy stuff. Also got my pile of collected out-of-place items put away. I found my needlework/project holder and brought it upstairs so my needle crafts are now neat and tidy.

I took a look for storage boxes/baskets when I was out yesterday but have not yet found what I want for this room. I'll keep looking. I only looked at the places I was at so I have many more stores I can check out. One of them will have what I want.

I figure 1 more day of concentrated effort and I'll feel OK with what I've done in this room. I just wish DH would get the tv mounted.

Nothing today though, I'm off to do granny duty all day. Did I ever mention we have grandchild #3 on the way. Probably not, we just found out this past weekend. Those kids repro like rabbits! We're all feeling whilst the kids are happy as can be about it. OH... to be young and foolish again.

Have yourselves a great day.

Wow that's great Hope! Congrats to you and your family!

You are doing great by the way - liked your lightbulb moment.
Andrea

You've got an energetic boy there, Hope!

I've been slacking on the DR but seeing that the end of the month is coming I started making progress this week. Cleared off the top of the china cabinet, sorted mail and bills from several months in the secretary.

The sad thing is, after finding all the unpaid bills I don't think I'll be splurging on any DR decor!

Speaking of which, I need to go see a counselor and pay him big money. DH and I joke that he refers to us as "Mr. and Mrs. Alaskan Cruise"--as in, we're financing his fabulous vacation, not our own.

Six More Days!

having several kids all quite close... I suppose... maybe... well it's probably a good way of ensuring that all the kids are out of their hair as early as possible.

if we gave ourselves a year on each room I suspect we'd probably still leave it to the last few days, so your comments don't surprise me that much Shaun!!

We're having a really cold (for us, not Hope) snap at the moment, so the garage is a bit of an ice-box and I'm not about to spend time breaking up boxes in there. I'll probably do some before next Thursday when our new recycling bin gets collected for the first time. I'm doing quite well at filling it, but I've never filled the regular household waste bin yet, so I know there will be space for some broken down boxes. I don't think my neighbours bother to flatten their recyclables because their lid was up after the first week. They'll learn the hard way I expect. And the collection will alternate recyclables with household, so each bin gets collected fortnightly instead of weekly, so some households will learn the hard way the importance of recycling.

so basically the bed won't get into the garage before the end of the month.

Kerri.

you popping in here rather than doing something constructive??

says the person who just stuck little foam squares to the backs of about a hundred tiny luminous plastic stars for her son's room!! And I will do more tomorrow for DD too. DS has regular yellow with orange (his room has beige walls and a soft brown carpet, but his curtains are diamonds of orange, green and yellow - all here when we arrive) and DD has blue instead of orange since her walls are blue. And yes Honey... I bought hem all in Singapore last year before we left - the kids had them for Christmas and I'm just now getting this far because the little bu99ers opened the packets a few days ago and the stars are all over the floor!!

Jana has her way of decluttering and I have mine. Actually I've tried Jana's, but somehow I seem to always find another packet of something that needs to be gotten rid of!

Kerri.

Hey! There's a carpet under there! Tonight we're moving furniture around in their room (switching Louisa's bed with a dresser) and moving the desk in the dining room upstairs. I have a ROTTEN cold.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

both the end of the month and me dumping that bed out of this room finally. I folded up a load of boxes in the garage late last night and if I can get those out into my bin then rearrange some bits and pieces I should be able to get the bed into the garage. I think I'll have to take it in through the front though because our stairs lead straight to the front door, whereas the side garage door means taking it right through the house - several doorways. It's not too heavy, just a bit awkward, so I don't see any difficulties getting it downstairs. If I'm wrong I foresee big difficulties getting it back up!!!

can I do it by the end of Tuesday though??? We shall see... stay tuned folks!

Kerri.

Two days left??? EEEKKKK!!!

Mondays upon us once again which means I'll spend most of today cleaning up the mess we made on the weekend, and other Monday tasks like laundry/ironing/bathroom cleaning/kitchen cleanup/floors and so on. I doubt I'll devote any time to my designated room.

Tomorrow though.....well just eat my dust gals .

Kerri you have accomplished alot with your DH away. Big pats on the back for you .

I hope you're recovering from your cold Lynn, and that you're not feeling too rough Kerri. Not a good time to feel off when we've only got

2 DAYS LEFT!!!!!!

And I do mean "mucked out."

Tonight I hope to move furniture with John--a desk from the dining room to our room, and the furniture in the girls' room needs moved around. Today, though, is devoted to finding a dryer repairman. sigh.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

Hey Shannon -

Come join us on the flybabies thread! Stay on this thread too if you like it! On the other thread there are a group of gals who follow the system more religiously. Some of us are on both threads.

probably quite a few in fact.

the saga of the bed continues, but in my desperation to get rid of the darn thing I've taken a drastic step... I haven't been totally honest!!! Seriously folks, for me, this is a biggie. I didn't tell a lie, but I had two people back off the moment I mentioned it wasn't full-size. This time I haven't volunteered the information and the lady's arranging to come and pick it up. I originally put it on as a 'spare' bed and I personally think it's brilliant for that purpose unless you have tall family on both sides who regularly pop by. Hopefully this time, third time lucky, we'll all be made happy!

the desk is still in its box at the bottom of the stairs. If the bed goes I would have enough space up here to build it, so I could bring it up piece by piece if necessary.

Kerri.

Making great progress in my bedroom, which was supposed to be last month's room. Maybe next month I'll get to this month's room

the same room for two months and it's still got a long way to go. Maybe I should just focus on it till it's done. Or else get a flame thrower and fix it the quick way!

Kerri.