Homebody's Life Shift

52 Weeks of Organizing-Week #10 for me!!

I have the blahs, man o man do I have the blahs.  I just want to sleep.  It started Friday, I slept most of Saturday and continued today, though I have managed to stay awake AND post this.

I had a big project this week.  My youngest daughter and granddaughter lived with us from July or so of 2010 until January 13, 2011.  My SIL has been serving in Afghanistan and the girls lived with us for a lot of the time (SIL should be leaving Afghanistan soon). 

So YD’s bedroom became a throw everything in it kind of room and was a disaster.  I knew I really needed to get it cleaned up for another visit or maybe other visitors??

So here are the before pictures, from the doorway:

Notice the floor??? And my sweet Landon thinks this is his bed now.

Cricut YD got for Christmas from the in-laws, bridesmaid dress on the chest of drawers… all furniture from Ikea in the Bay Area.

Except the toddler bed from Walmart.

After a lot of sorting of toys and cleaning and getting rid of stuff, I have this:

and this:

It took DH over 2 weeks to paint this room in the evenings after work.  He worked it out on paper first, then numbered te squares taping them off.  This was my YD’s birthday present when she turned 17, I told her we would redo her room.  I never dreamed she would find this idea in a magazine and want it done.  But anything for our spoiled youngest daughter….

Anyway I did a little bit every day this last week.  The queen bedding is in the washer/dryer and I will finish the room up tomorrow.  In the meatime, it is looking pretty good:

Ally’s toddler bed with the little quilt I made for her.  Ikea cabinet at the end of the bed:

Yes that is a Children’s Bible next on the top shelf next to a porcelain tea party set.  I have already reviewed the pictures to make sure they do not traumatize my granddaughter……never mind, secret joke…..

 Ally loves Mr. Potato Head.  I am putting it up high so she hopefully will not notice it on her next visit, I could just hide it in the closet, where I am putting that other stuff from the floor.

And lastly, poor Landon, this is his last night on the bed…..he has to sleep in the man cave on a blanket.  I know he is going to miss the cozy red velveteen type bedspread that shows his white hair so well.

Whew, bedding is in the dryer now.  All  have to do is remake the bed and it is done.  The rumba did it’s thing under the beds and around the room today, after DH vacuumed as much as he could.  You could definitely tell that Landon spent a lot of time in that room.  I think there was probably enough dog hair to weave a small sweater!

Go check out more exciting before and after pics at www.orgjunkie.com !

Tsunami Watch-52 Weeks of Organizing

While I wait for the tsunami to hit the North Coast, I figured I might as well use my time wisely and get this week’s organizing post done.  First of all, we should keep all the people in our prayers and the families from the earthquake that hit Japan last night.  Apparently I was snoring so DH got out of bed and was watching TV when it hit the airwaves.  He immediately came back and woke me up to tell me.  Living in earthquake country, earthquakes are pretty important to us.   That is why we keep bottled water and food at all times, just in case. 

Seriously, our town of McKinleyville sits on a cliff, so I am not worried.  However, my husband’s business is closer to the bay in Eureka.  He called and said all the businesses were closed around him.   He also had an young employee call and say he was leaving town.  A bit of an overreaction I think.  However, back in 1964 when the big one hit Crescent City, my uncle Gene (who worked for the government in an unknown exactly what he did type of position) missed getting dragged out by one city block.  So we do take our natural disasters seriously here in Northern Coastal California.

Well after all that happy talk onto this weeks issues:

1. What are your hot spot landing zones?  See picture!
2. Think about ways you can tackle these flat surface areas to manage the stuff that continues to pile there:  Maintain, maintain, maintain!
3. What are you most proud of so far in your 52 weeks journey?  That I am actually sticking with it.  I have bad startitis and not finishitis.  But then I have no job now, so this is my job!

I have several areas of ongoing decluttering and organizing going on.  Here is one before and after shot.  I picked up this brown shelf at a local kids store that was closing.  I did not know what I was going to do with it, but for $3.00 I figured I would find someplace to put it.  My first thought was organizing scrapbook supplies, but I don’t scrapbook…..yet!  I have an entire rubbermaid container of stuff leftover from YD’s scrapbooking days.  Unfortunately it turned into shoving any and all paper that comes into the house….well okay not all of it.

Before:

After:

That was easy!  All I did was dump all papers into here:

Where does all the paper in my house come from?  I don’t have children living here, going to school, etc.  It is just mail!  So I have a nice big project to do while watching a Lifetime movie…oh goody!

Several years ago DH made this little hook thingee for my office.  It gets pretty messy, so I cleaned it up a bit from this:

To this:

The bags from the left hold:  Upcoming knitting projects, current knitting project, plain bag is my “shopping bag, which holds this week’s current ads, a college ruled notebook, my coupon file folder and a pen and scissors, the far right holds my library books.

Another area I tackled this week was a shelf in my garage that has stock up items from the holidays.  Why did I buy so many chocolate chips? 

I found these plastic stacking containers in my office that had a bunch of old computer crap in them.  I threw some stuff away, put some stuff in other containers and was able to use them for the choco chips and sugar:

Aah much better.

After cleaning my landing pad in full disclosure, this morning it looks like this:

Hey in all fairness I was gone all last weekend to a family funeral so I did not maintain like I am planning.  Yes that is a smoke alarm sitting there.  We had a security system installed with a new fire alarm hooked up to the system, so we now have an extra…I wonder if my mother needs one?

I finally got my granddaughter’s quilt out to finish and was not happy to find the backing material, (minky polka dot) it not quite wide enough, so I am going to hack off a row on the quilt so I can get that finished up for her:

I will be sewing on my newly cleaned off sewing table with my new machine that is keeping my old Bernina company:

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You may remember the before shot a few posts ago, if not no need to remind you of how bad it was!  The shelf is up to the right of the table with the cute red accessories. 

Looking foward to seeing what everyone else did this week over at www.orgjunkie.com.  I am sitting listening to the local radio who is checking in with people reporting on the bay and tide, etc.  Stay safe everyone!

52 Weeks-March 4, 2011

Today is my older sister’s 55th birthday.  Eek!  I am right behind her in another 2.5 years.  At this point, both of us are stay-at-home wives and enjoying it.  Talking about the work I have been doing in my sewing room has inspired her to also convert a bedroom in their home to her craft room (she mostly knits).  I sewed all week as I had two quilts I needed to get done.  Here is one:

As usual I took a pattern and modified it.  This is my first quilt using Amy Butler fabric.  It is a little wild for me, but the soon-to-be first time mom loved it!  I am in the middle of sewing the binding on the second quilt and will post that picture later.  Since I spent so much time sewing I did not complete a new task, but worked in a couple of areas that needed it. 

Here is a before picture of my office/sewing room:

This is the view directly in front of the doorway…to the right you see a blank wall.  Here is what it looks like now:

 The boxes and magazine holders are from Ikea.  I retrieved them from YD’s bedroom after she left home.  They have been in my sewing room, but in different spots.  The baskets and polka dot jars came from the Dollar Store.  I am so pleased with how this turned out.  DH put the initial hardware and first two shelves up.  I bought the shelves at Michael’s from their scrapbooking line of organizing products.  After getting them in, we realized there was room for more, so I went back to Michael’s and they were still on sale for $9.99.  I went to Ace Hardware that is literally 1/2 a mile from my home and brought home the wrong brace things for the shelves.  The second time I pulled one out and took it down to match!  I then put them in and put up the shelves myself. 

You are probably thinking….so… how hard is that…but it is the first time I did something like that myself.  My sweete husband is a former home builder who basically won’t let me do anything that involves any kind of male type project.  But I am so inspired by so many blogs of women doing things, I decided what the heck, I will do it myself!  I am going to try to paint my kitchen cabinets at some point this year too!

This week’s questions to ponder:
1.  Do you know what your “good enough” is?  No since I have been living in chaosville for the last 30 years!
2.  What did you organize this week?  A cupboard in my garage/pantry area, worked on my laundry/shame area, and sewed a lot!
3.  Are there areas you are struggling with in this challenge?  I mainly struggle due to my physical limitations, which means I cannot start a job and work until it is finished.  So I have lots of small areas I work on, but am confident I will complete them all in the remaining weeks of the year, even with travel and other issues that will sidetrack me.

Yesterday I received this from my well loved UPS man:

Earlier in the week I received this:

I will be combining with more from the same line, Bliss from Moda, to make my YD a quilt, hopefully done in time for her 5th wedding anniversary, July 4th.  I have a few others to complete in the meantime…..

My kitchen and dining room are still clean, though my husband found a box of old patterns that are sitting on the dining room table.  I need to find a spot in my sewing room for that. 

So I continue to work on several areas of the house, but overall I am very happy with the progress I am making.  Thanks to Laura and everyone here who help keep me motivated.

52 Weeks…..I’m actually following through!

My life is changing, I actually can feel it.  Of course after 35 years of working outside the home, and finally having the privilege….yes privilege to be a homekeeper, is definitely helping.  I have TIME and I get to choose how to use it each and every day.  It is wonderful.  Not that I am glad I have been diagnosed with a chronic pain disease, but I have learned (or am learning) to pace myself, exercise and take care of myself.  I am quite the homebody.  Thank you Laura from www.orgjunkie.com for continuing to help me through this major life shift!

This week’s Questions to Ponder:
1.  Do find cluttered surfaces make you a little crazy?   They are starting to!
2.  Are you managing to stay on top of your 52 weeks list? What list, I am not that organized!
3.  Are you being motivated by your successes yet? Definitely….see below!

This week I continued clearing surfaces.  After last week’s success with the dining room and continuing it this week:

 I immediately started on the kitchen.  Why do I continually have crap on my drainboards?  Habit I would imagine.  Time to start a new habit and boy did I!!  I cleaned everything off, evening cleaning off the microwave that normally has a bunch of crap on it.  Yes those are soapsuds in the sink, I just finished cleaning up after making breakfast and lunch for DH this morning.

I even put my WW stuff in a drawer and moved all the packets and stuff from that drawer into a nice little dollar store basket.  I know, I know, we should not buy before we know what we are organizing, but I think a few small baskets to have ready for this kind of little project is nice, especially since I hate leaving home!

I also prepurchased this cute little wire basket also from the Dollar Store:

I think DH is really liking the new organized me…(haha that’s an oxymoron).   Last night when I got home from my weekly pain group he had beef stroganoff simmering on the stove and nary a dirty dish in site. 

Now my husband did all the cooking and grocery shopping from our 3rd year of marriage (when I went back to work full-time with 2 toddlers) up until when I quit work last August.  I was his scullery maid…. for 30 years!  We had quite the dance down, he would open a can and dump contents, I would rip off label, rinse out and toss in recycling, he would chop vegetables, I would grab the knife and throw it in the soapy water…..then he would start looking for it because he was not done with it…..

So to come home to spotless counters AND dinner simmering was quite the change for him too.  Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?? These two old dogs are doing pretty well I think!

Visiting each and every entry every single week of this challenge is really helping me with new ideas and staying excited about the progress we are all making.   Thank you everyone!

52 weeks of Organizing

1.  Let’s talk stuff!  What have you tossed out this week?  Lots of paper and 2 shirts with stains on them.
2.  Have you ever regretted something you’ve gotten rid of?  Why?  Yes actually my first sewing machine… I think I could have had it cleaned and serviced and it could be my backup machine now.
3.  How tempted are you to rush out and pick up pretty organizing containers first?  I have bought some first, but just a few that I knew I could use.

This week was taxes week.  My appointment was yesterday and I always wait until the last minute.  Well this time I gave myself 5 days.  Um…yeah, I was still working on them at the last minute.  Pulling out my tax file from the top drawer of my file cabinet pushed me into starting on the files.  I need to clean out and oganize my 4 drawer filing cabinet.  Here is what the top drawer looked like:

My dining room table looked pretty much like this all week:

Why am I saying “pretty much”.  It did look like that all week.  However, last night was my tax appointment right after my chronic pain group.  My accountant is a very patient man.  His daughter and my youngest daughter went through grade school together, so it is a time of catching up too. 

Finally this morning I was able to put everything leftover away, took off the tablecloth and took this lovely picture of my table with the tulips and wedding reception vase from my neighbor:

  Aaahhh much better!

I spent a lot of time with the shredder this morning!   My top drawer is not finished.  I still need to make labels, which involves changing the batteries in the label maker, which I need to go buy! 

Slowly but surely I am making progress and it feels really good!  Now to go see what everyone else did this week!