Winter Cleaning, mini-post again

Most excellent tidings! I found someone to take the bag of maternity tops (and I slipped in some old maternity-related books and magazines of which I also wanted to be rid--I'm so sneaky).

I still have a long way to go, but every little bit helps. Baby steps can carry you a thousand miles if you take enough of them.

Winter Cleaning mini-post

I have taken something of a break from heavy cleaning efforts while hosting a visitor for a week. However, I was able to do a little sorting, and I pulled out some maternity clothes that I obviously won't be needing any time soon. Yes, I could keep them on hand in order to attempt to be prepared for some nebulous possibility that I may have more children in the future, but I'd rather be rid of the clutter, and it's more sensible that someone else get some use out of them, rather than have them sitting in a box in my closet.

I have been asking around, and apparently nobody at church or work is (or knows anyone who is) expecting a baby right now. I could list the items on Craigslist, but so far, that hasn't worked well for me, so I may very well just end up giving them to Goodwill.

Winter Cleaning, Part 5

The Great Winter Cleaning Orgy continues... I'm hoping that once I deal with all these boxes and the things in them, I actually won't ever have to deal with this level of cleaning/organization again. If you get all your stuff organized and keep it that way, it isn't as bad anymore, right? Right?! I mean, it should make daily life easier (and more efficient and thrifty) and it will make moving much easier. And when I die (many years from now, I hope) it will make things easier for everyone who has to go through my possessions. So, ease all around.

ANYWAY.

Over the weekend, much was accomplished:

• Did a recycle run to get cardboard, paper, and plastics out of the garage and apartment.
• Added cardboard bedding to the vermicompost, put all compost from container in the apartment into bins in the garage.
• Went through old papers and memorabilia, organized it, recycled a lot of things I didn't need. I actually was able to consolidate enough to get rid of two boxes.
• Went through the Little Bug's school papers, eliminated a lot of the ones that don't need to be kept, and then organized the "keepers" in a single location.
• Sorted through magazines, took out and filed any articles or pictures I want to keep, and put the magazines in a stack in the garage, ready to be given away to anyone who wants them. Or maybe I'll give them to the library for their used book store.
• Got a new space heater, because the old one mysteriously quit working on Thursday night.
• Got some new plastic bins, the better to store and organize things.

To do for this week:

• Deal with some insurance issues.
• Organize and file papers currently being centralized on the table.
• Remove more recycling.
• Go through some boxes of clothing, glean.
• Take stuff to Goodwill.
• Give away some items to people who can use them.
• Clean fridge.
• Plan menus for upcoming week and a half.
• Plan the Little Bug's birthday celebrations.
• Bake cookies and rolls.
• Take the Little Bug to get his feet measured.
• Have the Little Bug's hair cut.

So far, no interest in the book I put on Craigslist. I don't care about getting money for it, really, but unfortunately, I don't even know anyone to whom I could give it away for free.

Winter Cleaning mini-post

I got rid of three more books. A friend came over, I offered some books to her, and they completely fit some needs that she and her family have at this time. Perfect!

I put another book for sale on Craigslist but am not sure if it will get any interested parties. It's a book focused on a fairly niche market.

But small victories are still victories.

Mini Mission

Posted by Willow:

At the instigation of Colleen at 365lessthings.com, I gave myself a mini mission for this week and I want to share it with you.

Is your jewelry box overflowing with necklaces and earrings?  Are you like I am, and when you are dressing in the early morning, hurrying to rush out the door, you rummage around in the messy jewelry case looking for the match to the earring you have in your hand and plan to wear because it perfectly matches your outfit of the day?  Maybe we have too much jewelry.

I decided to declutter my jewelry and get rid of the old necklaces and earrings I no longer wear.  Unfortunately, I'm somewhat sentimentally attached to some of the pieces.  This weekend, I hit on  a plan that I think will work to deal with the unwanted, unneeded jewelry.  I pulled a gallon plastic baggie from the kitchen drawer and strategically positioned within easy reach of the jewelry drawer in the bedroom to hold any jewelry I know I don't wish to keep.  I separated the items I know I've worn in the past week--a few sets of earrings and one necklace--and now whenever I choose a different ring, earring or necklace to wear, I place it with the "yes, I've worn it and love it" items.  At the end of a specific period of time (maybe a month?), I'll know with certainty what jewelry I actually wear and what I don't.  I've done this experiment with my clothing and as you can guess, it was an excellent, unbiased exercise in discovering what I really like and wear.  I have a feeling that I will be dropping quite a few pieces into that gallon baggie which will then be placed in the bags reserved for the thrift shop.

Join me in decluttering your jewelry box!

Winter Cleaning, Part 4

I haven't really made that much progress in cleaning, but I want to celebrate the little that I've accomplished.

• I conquered my hall closet! It used to be an inefficient and disorganized hodge-podge of boxes and random things that I just threw in there when I first moved into the apartment. Now, it holds some well-organized plastic bins of long-term storage, as well as all the large items that I stock in bulk and use all the time (diapers, paper towels, etc.) and my games (readily available to be enjoyed by any guests that we might have in the future).
• I found my random magazines and put them all together on a shelf, ready to be gone through and then disposed of.
• I got rid of two magazines already! The break area at work is always full of old magazines, and it turns out that people just bring them in and leave them there once they are done with them, and others can read them there on break or even take them home if desired. I can put some of my magazines there, but I doubt Vogue and wedding magazines will be very popular at a large technical company populated primarily by middle-aged male rednecks.
• I made chicken-rice stew from scratch! It made me happy just to be cooking (with my crock pot, no less) but it also helped reduce clutter in my kitchen because it called for some items that were about to expire and needed to be used. This was a new recipe, and while it is reasonably tasty, I found it kind of bland and so I will tweak things and adjust it before recommending it to anyone. Note: This is often the case with new recipes.

It does get depressing and overwhelming at times, but I remind myself that I really am doing what I need to do, and it's better to do a thorough job and really go through all those boxes, rather than just keep moving them from place to place and then avoiding them by shoving them out of sight in the bowels of a closet.

Winter Cleaning, Part 3

The Little Bug has been sick since the weekend, so that has put a damper on my cleaning frenzy. However, I've managed to do a little organization and decluttering.

• I have given away two books already!
• I made a pile of items that actually belong to my ex-husband and I'll hand them over to him when he visits in a few weeks.
• I made a pile of books that I will give away or sell once I have finished reading them. You know those books that are always lying around in boxes or on your bookshelves, and you feel guilty because you spent money on them, or someone gave them to you as a gift, yet you've never actually read them, but you feel as if you can't just get rid of them (because you spend money on them or received them as gifts)? Yes, THOSE books. Well, I've given myself an ultimatum and a deadline. I bought those books, or people gave them to me, for a reason, and that reason is probably that they contain valuable information and I would enjoy reading them. So I'll read them instead of I Can Has Cheezburger sites or something. I'm going to read those books, acquire the knowledge within them, and then send them out into the world to enrich other people's lives. And if I start a book and then realize that I don't like it and don't want to finish it, I've given myself permission to just send that book along on its way. I'm 1/3 of the way through The Crucible of Europe since Sunday.
• I took two loads of recycling to the bins up in town, working these trips to dovetail with other errands (thus saving time and gas).

Baby steps.

Winter Cleaning, Part 2

The great Winter Cleanse of 2011 continues in my home.

For months, I've been avoiding confronting the huge scary organizational monster in my back bedroom. I have boxes that hadn't been opened or even moved since I took residence in the apartment last April. The sheer volume of stuff was intimidating, and there were also some very emotional issues at work as well, since the vast majority of items in those boxes were relics of my married years. I was tired, overwhelmed... I couldn't face those boxes. It is legitimately VERY DIFFICULT to go through dozens of boxes (not to mention bags and shelves) all by oneself. However, add to the mix a very active and curious toddler who is interested in everything and wants to climb all over everything, and the task is elevated from difficult to nearly impossible.

However, one of my two lifestyle changes for 2011 is "Face Your Fears"* and so on Friday night and much of the day on Saturday, I hauled boxes down and around, opened them, made decisions... My apartment currently looks as if it was attacked by the proverbial tornado, but please believe me when I assure you that progress is being made. I organized books and put them on shelves or back in boxes to wait for further decisions to be made. I identified no fewer than a dozen books that I can give away (I'm a book hoarder, so this is huge for me). I even went through a box of the Little Bug's old things and gleaned a bag of baby clothes for the give-away pile.

Baby steps.

Most importantly, although it may take a while to realize my vision, I have a definite idea of how I want that back room to be organized and utilized as a combined workroom/office and playroom. The room has a southeastern exposure, and in the spring, it will be great to be in there on weekend mornings, with me being productive and creative with the Little Bug playing and learning right next to me.

*The other is "Sleep", which is doing wonders for forcing me to examine my life and my priorities, but that's another story.

Winter Cleaning

My steps toward organization in my home are baby steps, rather than leaps and bounds. However, as the saying goes, every little bit helps. Rome wasn't built in a day. A journey begins with a single step.

Today, I went through a basket from my kitchen that had become a receptacle for all kinds of paper, but primarily receipts and coupons. I went through the papers and put the vast majority of them into bags for either recycling or shredding. It was a task that had daunted me before I began, but ultimately took me only several minutes, all told.

Lessons learned:
Many household jobs are much less difficult and time-consuming than our reluctant anticipation tells us they will be. So: Just Do It.
Doing just one thing today will make you feel as though you've really accomplished something, which will build your confidence for doing one more thing tomorrow, while also eventually muting that negative little voice in your head.

A wise woman (Willow) once said to me (on the phone today, actually), "If you do just one thing per day, at the end of the year, you've done 365 things!"
I would just like to respond, "That's true, Mom, and may I add that in a leap year, it's 366!"

Oxymoron

I told my friend that I write a simplicity-centric blog with my mum and sister, but we don't post regularly because we are all pretty busy.

He replied, "Too busy to write about simplicity? Isn't that an oxymoron?"

Hmm. Well, yes.

Perhaps I should call a meeting of our editorial staff. Maybe I'll wait till Christmas so we can all be in the same state, maybe even the same room. =)

Reasons

Why do people declutter their homes, lives, and environments? I'm sure there are myriad reasons for simplifying.  Colleen's post The Joys of Decluttering over at http://www.365lessthings.com/ got me thinking about why people have been writing about simplifying their lives and decluttering their homes.

• Anger.  Years ago I read the book Messies Anonymous by Sandra Felton.  She relates in the book that she first started decluttering because she was angry.  Angry at herself.  Angry that she had allowed so much clutter to live all over her house that she did not even notice the water leak in the kitchen until it had caused major damage to her floor and walls which required a very expensive repair.
• Freedom from Fear.  Many people hold on to all kinds of items out of fear for the future.  What if they can't afford to purchase another "...(you name the item).."?  They 'need' to keep either the old one or an additional new one around 'just in case'.  Usually this ends up not being cost effective because of disintegration from disuse or because when they do need the stored item, they can't find it in the clutter.  In addition, they've had to spend the resources to store whatever it is.  If you deal with the underlying fear issue, you can free yourself from fear of the future and the accompanying clutter.
• Moving.  People move. A lot.  It's unusual to meet a person who has lived in the same house or even the same neighborhood all her/his life.  Lugging all that stuff around from house to house, city to city, gets expensive.  Do the math.  If a new bed, sofa or table costs less than the price to move it, it's a better financial choice to sell it and purchase a different table, bed or sofa in your new location.  Schlepping three sets of dishes, five boxes of holiday decorations, or 25 boxes of books out of the old place, into the moving van, and back up the steps into the new spot is exhausting and expensive.  People are asking, "Do we really need all that stuff to make us happy in the new home?"
• Cleaning.  It's so much easier to clean when there's less stuff in the way.
• Desire for Peaceful Living.  Face it.  Living in clutter is not peaceful.  People who are decluttering and simplifying their physical spaces are finding out just how much their surroundings affect their ability to relax.  When their space is uncluttered, their minds can be at peace.

If you're on a decluttering kick, what is your motivation?

Week 1 Update for Project 333

After sitting around in the living room shivering while I was correcting student compositions, I realized that yes, I had underestimated the number of layering sweaters I would need. (Here's where I again plead the excuse of 105 degree weather the last week.)

Therefore, I have added to my list:

31. turquoise fleece pullover
32.
33.

We are one week in to the challenge.  My initial reaction is that it's easier to do laundry. 

And that's a good thing.

Minimalist Fashion Project 333

I quietly joined Minimalist Fashion Project 333 on October 1st.  When I first read about the project on Courtney's blog BeMoreWithLess, I thought, "Hey, I could do that. No sweat.  I don't have that many clothes, anyway."  Then I walked back to my closet and took an honest look.  I certainly had more than thirty-three items hanging there.  So I began to glean and declutter the clothes I obviously would never wear again and dropped them in to a big black trash bag to take to the thrift store.

Here are the original rules for Project 333:
•When: October 1 – December 31 (It’s never too late to start so join in anytime!)

•What: 33 items including clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear and shoes.

•What not: these items are not counted as part of the 33 items – wedding ring, underwear, sleep, in-home lounge wear, and workout clothing (you can only wear your workout clothing to workout)

•How: over the next two months, outline your 33 items, by the 1st of October, box up the remainder of your fashion statement, seal it with tape and put it out of site.

•What else: consider that you are creating a wardrobe that you can live, work and play in for three months. If you purchase items for project 333, stick with the one in, two out approach. Consider the essentials and stick to 33.

Now it is October 5th.
I'm posting my list:

  1. black dress slacks
  2. black capris
  3. grey jeans
  4. tan jeans
  5. navy fleece jacket
  6. long sleeved black knit top
  7. long-sleeved white knit top
  8. navy skirt
  9. navy short-sleeved knit top
10. teal cashmere sweater
11. purple cashmere sweater
12. turquoise cardigan
13. print blouse
14. black camisole
15. white camisole
16.-22. various colored t shirts
23. black shoes
24. black flipflops
25. sterling silver earrings
26. watch
27.-28. two necklaces
29. gloves
30. lavender 3/4 sleeve sweater
31.
32.
33.

These last three slots I am reserving for scarves and a sweater that I've nearly finished knitting.  Or maybe another pair of earrings (I do love my earrings).

Five days in to this and I'm thinking that because I made my final list last week and started the project when the weather was presenting us with triple digit temperatures I may have over estimated the t shirts and under estimated the sweaters.  This week we are having rain, clouds, fog, and temperatures in the 60s. We shall see.

And now I'm wondering if anyone besides my husband will notice that I am only wearing 33 items for 3 months!

Simplicity Quote

“You can’t force simplicity; but you can invite it in by finding as much richness as possible in the few things at hand. Simplicity doesn’t mean meagerness but rather a certain kind of richness, the fullness that appears when we stop stuffing the world with things.”

- Thomas Moore, The Re- Enchantment of Everyday Life

Simple & Thrifty Style

I am a great advocate of shopping at thrift stores. One can obtain all sorts of useful items for one's person and home. Thrift store shopping provides benefits in so many areas, such as:

• The world and environment - You conserve resources by reusing existing items instead of buying new ones.
• Worthy causes - Many thrift stores operate to benefit charitable organizations.
• Your creativity - An artistic or creative person, for example, may find inspiration or simply some ready crafting supplies just by having the eyes to see what is available in unexpected places.
• Your pocketbook - Items at thrift stores typically cost mere fractions of their original prices.

For my part, just the other day, I obtained a "like new" pair of Gap khaki trousers for $0.95. What have been your thrifted prizes? Please share!

Simple Knitting

I just posted a few thoughts about simple knitting habits over at my knitting blog Willow's Knits.  If you're a knitter, pop over there and read it!

A Link for a Helpful Giveway

Kathie at Two Frog Home teaches classes in her local community on a variety of subjects.  She is publishing two e-courses in the next few weeks.  One is about debt reduction and budgeting and the other is a 5 week course on simplicity.  Because she wants to make sure that all the kinks are out of the courses before she publishes them, she is offering the courses free to the winner of her giveaway hoping that she'll receive feedback at the same time that she gives help with the courses.

If you are interested in throwing your name into the hat for the giveaway, use THIS LINK to TWOFROGHOME to leave a comment and get a chance to win.

Decluttering Tip: Footwear

I had some gently used shoes that I wanted to clear from my closet. They were still in good condition, but no longer useful to wear to work, which is the only use I had for them. I donated them to Soles for Souls (www.soles4souls.org), and that organization will provide them to someone who needs them and can put them to good use.

Unless you live in a very remote area of the continental United States, Soles for Souls will probably have a donation location available near you. Go to their website and search if you would like to find one.

You can clean out your closet and do some good at the same time.

Lovin' it!

We two here at Willow's Cottage decluttered and cleaned out the shed this morning.

Gone is a really large box of stuff.  And our recycle and trash bins are fuller than they were this morning.

It's a GREAT feeling to be so many pounds lighter!

Guest Posting

I was featured in a guest post on Jonathan Blundell's blog http://www.welivesimply.info/five-questions/five-questions-with-linda-price/.  The title is Five Questions with Linda Price.  If you're interested in my answers to those five questions, click on the link.  Thanks!