My New Disciple

Now that the master bedroom is blissfully finished along with the office, attic, back patio, barn and shed, I'm moving on to the last of the last.

This afternoon I finished what I do believe is MY LAST BOX. (deafening applause) !!!

I.AM.SO.GOOD.AT.THIS.NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I rocked that box...and it was a toughie! Lots of paper and random stuff. Just started sorting and delivering the sorted stuff to where it belongs. I only had two items that went to giveaway, the rest was relocate and trash. Whooooh!

It is now time to put my education to the test...I've gone through all the steps in my learning process except for the last step...training someone else. But alas, I don't have to wait long for a new disciple! My daughter needs my help and now that I am a PRO, I truly can be of help to her.

Here's what we're up against:
Like me, my daughter has too much stuff. As I've been purging stuff and growing my soul, she has stayed pretty much the same. Now I can help her purge and grow! She LOVES to sort and organize and I am so full of hope for her...I know with a little bit of help, she'll be off and running with the tools she needs to limit her stuff and keep it organized. We'll all have a new life of freedom in this area of tidiness!

Her bedroom needs to be emptied. We intend to use her room for "storage" and the playroom (which is really the living room), for her "play" space. There is an "extra" room, which we call "Fred". It contains my husband's books (aka-library). Unfortunately, Fred has been overrun with bags of Sarah's stuff. So we have three rooms that need attention...Sarah's room, Fred and the playroom.

When this project is finished, the only areas remaining to clean will be: all the bookshelf cubbies (I've made great headway!) and the pantry. I think I'll do some fine tuning before I close out this blog, identifying any areas where I don't feel freedom, making sure that I am indeed free-and finished with this project (not including maintenance).

So, tonight I stepped into her room...when we moved in March, we got rid of her dresser. We need to first get really solid on where her clothes go. Then I think we need to actually remove everything from her room and sort through her books and what she wants to keep on her shelves.

We looked online for some ideas on organizing stuffed animals. I had a new thought while standing in her room tonight...why not use clear bins that can be stacked and stored in her closet? Then she'd be able to see what she has, the boxes help us put "like" things together and maximizes space. Hmmmm.

The goal is for the playroom to be EMPTY. That means dealing with the Lego collection and clearing the rug and eventually making sure the cubbies are purged and pretty.

We are so close! Yet we still have a lot to accomplish.

Next steps:

1-decide where her clothes go
2-remove everything from her room (except her clothes)
3-decide on some things that go back in her room and place them conveniently

She wants a bean bag for her room so she can have a "reading nook". If the bean bag comes as a Christmas gift, we'll have to make sure that the space on the rug stays clear so she can actually enjoy her nook. Since she uses the Kindle a lot, I don't know that we'll even have to put up a light. I'm starting to get vision for what things are going to look like in there and I've been preparing her for months for the reality of having to get rid of a lot of stuff. She'll be so relieved and happy to know what SHE has and where it is!

We're also planning to put shelves up around her ceiling for her plushies...can't wait, I think that will be awesome storage! She doesn't like the idea of her plushies being squished in a box...they can't breathe in there, you know.

GOAL:
-empty playroom, no boxes hanging around, all storage in kids' rooms
-tidy bedroom with ALL her stuff stored in her room
-Fred will contain only books

HOW TO GET TO GOAL:
-rearrange and relocate the Legos
-clean mantel
-purge and organize all the plushies and various accessories strewn all over rug in playroom
-empty bottom cubbies (10) so they are ready for plushy play
-sort through bags in Fred and relocate
-empty Sarah's room
-put all of her stuff in her room (no storage allowed in Fred nor playroom, must all fit in her room)

AH. I can see it and taste it. Here we go!!!

FINAL TIDY Master Bedroom

WOW! I did it! I thought it was going to be really hard finishing up the master bedroom! I know what I have and where it is! Fantastic! We are loving all the FLOOR SPACE now that totes and tubs have been gone through and removed. I never took before nor after photos of the master, oh well, sure wish I had photos!

Two Step Process Day 4 of 64

I'm doing what I don't want to do and it is exhilarating!

Today I worked in my bedroom...so surprising, there's still a bunch of stuff to deal with! I got together a trash bag, giveaway bag and a relocate box. My goal is to have it tidy enough to vacuum all the carpet at any time!

I had a revelation...once the box was gone through, only HALF the job was done. The relocate box needs to be "relocated", taking all those things out of the bedroom and taking them to where they really belong. Funny how I never realized this is a TWO part process! I think I've been going through stuff for a long time but I've been sorting through and then NOT putting some of the sorted stuff AWAY!

I wanted to stop after about an hour. My endurance is low. So I'm pressing on to do MORE HOURS. I've been disciplining myself and now is time to strengthen myself and go deeper, taking on much more so I can get to freedom with this tidy business.

I kept going and going and did way more than I planned and was also surprised that it took so long to do so "little"!

Of course, somehow, things get MESSY while CLEANING UP!

The pantry is right outside our bedroom, and some groceries got dumped in our bedroom since the pantry isn't organized! We have canned food on the floor! I took on too much, because when John came home, we worked on the pantry together (and now there's a bunch of stuff all over).  I needed help and he got a little "possessive" of "his" pantry!!! We accomplished a lot working together, though!