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!

Video Game Shelf

When we moved, we put a chair in this corner and a box and bins...it was a jumbled mess. I thought Daniel would enjoy organizing his video games, consoles and controllers and I knew I would enjoy having this area organized.

We assembled the shelf together and he immediately got to work putting things where he liked them. He apparently likes Oreo on the lower left shelf, ha! No one tells that cat what to do!

The TV room is officially tidy! I'd like to put a lamp behind John's chair (IKEA floor lamp is in its box in the office waiting to be assembled) and some art/photos/kids' projects on the walls...oh, and I want to apply some Fray Check to the edge of the carpet, but that's on my "new to-do list" and I can do that after the final tidy. Nice work, Dan!

Playroom Boxes

I want to get through all this stuff in the living room (we call it the playroom). This has become the dumping area...contains mostly stuff I don't know what to do with and Sarah's plushy stuff.

I didn't take a photo, just dove into the boxes. Wow, I actually accomplished something! The room isn't done, but I feel terrific that about half of the stuff is dealt with...I have a looming sense of dread about what to do with Sarah's stuff. But...I'm going to put off that feeling until after we go through it together. Maybe she'll let go of more than I expect.

TV Room update...I purchased a shelf to house the video games and controllers, tucked the Rock Band drums up in the attic, easy access but out of the way. Once I put together the shelves, that room will be d.o.n.e.!

Status:
IN PROCESS-go through cubbies (I'm REALLY close to being done!)
IN PROCESS-help my daughter purge and organize her room
-go through several bags and boxes of plushie accessories and organize (in Fred and in playroom)
-another afghan (waiting for yarn to arrive) {the yarn arrived, afghan 80% finished!}

DONE-finish taxes
DONE-finish quilt (gift)
DONE-finish handmade napkins (gift) 
DONE-finish a huge crochet project (gift)
DONE-finish handmade pillowcases

FINAL TIDY COUNTDOWN:
TV Room
Laundry
Flop Room/Desk
Pantry
Master
Master Bath
Master Closet
Kitchen
Dining Room
Playroom
Fred
Dan's Room
Sarah's Room
Office
Attic/Shed/Barn
Main Bath

Locator Notebook and Attic FINAL TIDY

This seems a little fussy and perfectionistic for me to be posting, but I'm totally excited about it. Enter...The Locator Notebook. Each and every room will have a little map showing what's in the room and where it is located within the room. {In a really sick way, this reminds me of the 5S program my husband used at a previous job, and I remember how much we joked about how they were expected to diagram and inventory their desk drawers}. This is precisely what I'm doing-funny! The notebook concept sends me over the moon and I have to pinch myself that I can actually DO this! Less stuff means I know what I have! I remember reading about a home organization idea using bankers boxes and having a card index system to tell what's in each box. I never could do that...until now! (Maybe I could index the cubbies when I get there...naw, better yet, get rid of what I don't use!)

Now that the office is tidied and several additional items are stowed in the attic, I'd like to NOT forget about what is in deep storage. Better yet, I'd like it to take under two minutes to retrieve the cat carrier or suitcase or...where did I put the box which holds last year's taxes?

I've never had an attic before, though growing up we did have a storage room with a door which was very attic-y. Back then, I didn't realize it was attic-y, but now that I have my very own real life attic, I can indeed verify the likeness.

I don't like the idea of an index file, so I thought a visual map would be good to put up in the attic, so anyone venturing up there might be able to actually come back down with what they were looking for in the first place (before they froze or cooked to death or slumped over in pain from trying to keep from standing up straight).

So I got things moved around the way I like them and made a map. The map is going in my "Locator" notebook AND a copy is hanging in the attic in a page protector from a post. The Locator notebook has three pages already...the attic map, the office map of the lower cabinets and drawers, and the office map of the upper cupboards and shelves. This is the second iteration of this map, the first map got lost!

What makes me giddy (besides the cool new notebook) is that it was EASY to find a pin and a page protector and hang the map in the attic! No searching or stumbling to find these needed items! I think it is super geeky to post a photo of my "attic map" IN the attic, but there's a sense of completion that makes me really happy. I'm enjoying this FINAL PHASE of tidying and this certainly does give me a great sense of order and freedom. "Knowing what I have and where it is" constitutes "tidiness" and freedom with my stuff.

This is just a huge big deal for me...to know what I own and to be able to find it. And have it stored in a way that makes it accessible. This has been my heart's desire for YEARS. I remember cleaning the garage in our first house (1100 sq feet) and wanting so badly to "know what I had and where it was". I think that would have been about 1998!

I would say the attic partially correlates with the garage at the old house. And since we don't have a garage at our new house, this final tidy really does count as the garage (astounding)!!! This weekend, we're planning on tidying the outside shed and micro barn, too. Those count toward the garage as well, but they are extremely simple to tidy. The patio is tidy, but we want that stuff in the shed or barn, which will empty the patio, making IT very tidy! Last weekend's POURING DOWN RAIN prevented us from completing that task.

I have completed the attic and the office. They are officially TIDY. I know what is in them and where everything is (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Fffffffffffffrrrrreeeeeeeeeedom. Thank you, Lord!

FINAL TIDY COUNTDOWN:
TV Room
Laundry
Flop Room/Desk
Pantry
Master
Master Bath
Master Closet
Kitchen
Dining Room
Playroom
Main Bath
Fred
Dan's Room
Sarah's Room
Office
Attic/Shed/Barn

Dining Room Floor Restored

Today, the wall got textured and painted and the floors restored. Ah. THAT feels so good. How long has it been? We discovered the leak on Tuesday, August 27th, so we've been a month in limbo with the dining room disassembled. I'm pretty excited to move the Expedit back into the dining room again!

I've been feeling so terrible about the water damage...just made a mess and made more work for our landlord.

The wall looks like new and we're ready to put our bookshelf back in place. I'll probably wait until Monday, just to let everything cure properly. The black plank wasn't as dark before the finish was applied, so I'm hoping it will lighten. So grateful to have it all fixed again...would never know there were holes cut out of the wall!

The bookshelf is damaged...I'm not quite sure what to do about it...maybe flip it upside down and put the blackened, water damaged part on the top. Only half of the base is damaged, I don't see any point in trashing the bookcase. But the black is pretty ugly and I'm really not sure about stability. Need to think on that...

I'm only going to put necessary things back into the cubbies, which will give us a FINAL TIDY on the dining room! Maybe next week I can post that!

Office FINAL TIDY

This might be one of my favorite posts so far...and unexpectedly so, because I wasn't planning on tidying the office today.

When we moved in, I surrendered the office to my husband and kids. The master plan was to use it for John's game collection and a place for a second computer. And storage.

Over the past six months, it has turned into a dumping ground catch-all, family IT department and film sound stage...but there was nowhere to move! (Sounds familiar!!!)

I had some inspiration to clean out the office today...oh how I wish I snapped a before shot! The room is transformed! I forgot how big it is. The inspiration to clean it out stemmed from the idea I would be moving my nail table into the office to make more room for my sewing machine in the flop room.

During staycation, I finished a quilting project. I've pieced quilt tops, but have never made a quilt sandwich with binding from start to finish. I have aspired to do so, and completing this quilting project birthday gift, I felt inspired to do a real quilt. Sarah loves to use the sewing machine as she feels inspired for various projects. I think she'll do even more sewing with the sewing machine out (it's home has been the master bedroom, but no one likes to go all the way back there away from the family activity center that is the flop room, kitchen and office just to sew...and it is a major deal to get out the cutting mat and iron, it would be nice to centrally locate all of those things).

I had the sewing machine by the nail table and the cutting mat and ironing board on the bar in the kitchen. I've been debating learning longarm quilting by taking a class at my local quilt shop, but when I boiled it all down, it made so much more sense to somehow figure out how to do it on my own sewing machine. So I set to work to figure it out and figure it out I did! In order to make it comfortable and efficient, I need to add a small table to the left and back of my sewing machine to support the weight of the quilt or blanket and thus the need to move some things around. So I was thinking if I moved the nail table to the office (there's a perfect spot), then I could create a sewing corner that could be easily accessed anytime I could carve out some time for quilting. And it would be accessible to Sarah anytime she was inspired...and it might even inspire her just being out!

Since cleaning up from my quilt project, I've been wanting to find a place to keep the cutting mat (it has been living on the bar making it unusable for kitcheny things). Previously, it's been squished into a closet since we moved and really needs a good home. Once the office counters were cleaned off (I pushed through dealing with a big stack of frames and random stuff from moving) I noticed the second computer bay (which doesn't have a keyboard tray) would be ideal for the cutting mat. And then noticing a nice space for the ironing board to live (I fetched it from behind the master bedroom door) I realized I had a nice permanent cutting and ironing area (how EXCITING is THAT!?). So the idea to move the sewing machine (instead of the nail table) into the office made me realize how convenient it would be to have everything "sew" close!

I actually feel like I have my own sewing room now! I love that the tile floor is easy to keep clean and is a perfect spot for basting my quilts! I can do it all in this room! There's plenty of light and plenty of room to store upcoming projects and the placement makes it super easy to cut and iron and sew all in a close space!

So that was unexpected, to turn the office into a sewing room (without really impacting the kids' activities which are using the second computer and making movies). I tucked the card table along the drawers used for long term storage so it can be set up anytime...and put away when not in use. The sewing area can be expanded for larger quilt projects by setting up some soon to be purchased 3' or 4' folding tables. My son has more space for using the small tv and album ripping turntable now that many old cords and various things have been stowed in drawers and cabinets. The room is USABLE! And my husband can still see and get to his beloved board games. Daniel wanted to put up some posters to liven up the wall-looks awesome! I love looking at the vintage Star Wars poster that's been rolled up for years. After going through the stack of frames, I remembered the birthday gift from my dear friend...and I found the perfect spot for it!

I love that Sarah will have a good five feet of counter space with a few drawers underneath for her crafting. I'm hoping she'll decide stash her glue gun in one of the drawers and use this space instead of the kitchen and dining room table...it would make our lives a bit more tidy if she would do that. If not, that's fine. But she could have a designated space if she wanted. And here we agonized over getting rid of the eight foot counters when we moved...this is so WAY MUCH BETTER! I know what is in every drawer and cupboard. And did I mention there's a few EMPTY cupboards and drawers!?

Even though we're in a new house, this space would probably translate as the sunroom in the old house. It's like having a FINAL TIDY in the sunroom! Fantastic!

What a fabulous feeling! I think I can say that "I know what I have and where it is" in the office! THAT really is freeing! Just thinking about this actually gives me butterflies and a tear in my eye...a tear of JOY!

FINAL TIDY COUNTDOWN:
Attic/Shed/Barn
TV Room
Laundry
Flop Room/Desk
Pantry
Master
Master Bath
Master Closet
Kitchen
Dining Room
Playroom
Main Bath
Fred
Dan's Room
Sarah's Room
Office

The Dining Room Floor

 

We've had the fan on 24/7 for about 10 days. The cardboard is covering where the landlord cut holes in the wet drywall. I thought it was the shower leaking, duh, it was the water dispenser! After 13 years, it sprung a slow leak. It wasn't leaking at the old house and I don't think it was leaking for more than a few weeks. The floor looks so much better! We feel horrible about creating this damage, it just makes me sick. I'm eager to have the floor nice and dry, the drywall fixed up and be able to return the Expedit to its proper position. By default, I'll have to organize all the cubbies! YAY! And find a new place for the new water dispenser!

The bookshelf has some damage, but we're going to leave the damaged part on top instead of near the floor, I think I'll put something up there so we can't see the black water damaged edges. I'm just so glad we caught it when we did so it didn't get any worse!