March's Dynamic Declutter, 2014

[Harriet]

Cluttered-House-300x215.jpg

Rescue efforts required!

Sometimes we feel like this, girlfriends! Sometimes our girlfriends feel like this! Not what we want. So here's the space to encourage, admit, inspire, give tips, give hugs, challenge and generally be DYNAMIC with declutter! Everybody's had a tough go of it at one time or another or another or lots, and we can all help!
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[Harriet]

Some of us schedule decluttering with Focus cleaning, by decluttering for a week in the area we will clean the next week. That way surfaces are recently cleared, and a deep cleaning easier.

What's the Focus cleaning plan? It was designed by our own Indiana before we came to this board, and carried on here, in our Organization and Simplification Tools Forum. The Focus plan divides a household into 9 rooms or areas for cleaning and gives one thread to each area. Each thread rotates, coming up in the Focus forum 3 times a year, and then just before Thanksgiving, Focus goes over to maintenance threads during the holidays. Focus cleaning is adaptable, of course, so even those following it drift in and out of different rooms as needed.

For anyone who would like some "company" decluttering "where" others are that week, here are the rooms where you will find some company this coming month:

Week of.........you'll find some of us

2/24/2014 Decluttering the kitchen as we Focus clean outdoors
3/3/2014 Decluttering the living room as we Focus Clean the kitchen
3/10/2014 Decluttering the dining room as we Focus Clean the living room
3/17/2014 Decluttering porch/entry as we Focus Clean the dining room

Round 2! Can you believe it???
3/24/2014 Decluttering the bedrooms as we Focus Clean the porch/entry

[Ivy]

Wow! Harriet! I sure need to declutter in my living room! The end table top, drawers on both and bottom shelves on both need it badly! I think the kitchen will be enjoyable though. I need to get at that walk-in pantry of ours, too. I need DH to get the little 4 - 5-ft. ladder in, so we can strip the top shelves, re-do them, and slowly work down to the floor. Our walk-in pantry is built in a U-shape with shelves and you open the door, and a light automatically goes on, from a switch in the door jam. It's neat. We have so much "stuff" in there, too. DH has tools, too. They're right where he can get them, doesn't want me to mess with them, but when I mention, "The FOCUS this week is....." "So could you maybe....." He jumps right in and HELPS! He's much more attentive to the FOCUS week than by doing the routines, control journal, etc... cleaning thing. I don't know why either. But Harriet! You must have a MAN FAN!

We decluttered an old washer/dryer, the books that go with them, and have been using the new set. We decluttered the packing, etc... which the installers took. We've been doing laundry every since, so are decluttering dryer sheets and dryer lint. We've been decluttering some junk mail, too.

I did something kinda stupid though. (I hate to admit this!) In one of my magazines, they listed where I could get booklets, info on places to travel to all over America! My idea was this would be a great way to be more "authentic" in my short stories, for places along with researching on the Internet. So far, I've received 1 brochure and 1 magazine. I am doing this for my writing, which is my excuse, but it's clutter. What am I to do now? I've got it- I think! In my office, I've got a covered Rubbermaid file container about 20" long, so after I've read the literature, I can store it in my files and take notes from them, too. Ah-Ha! That would work! Gotta go! The sheets are dry and it's time to make the bed.

Happy FOCUS to Everybody!

[Nancy]

Yep I too need to foucs on this.
One bag in the now ready to go.
One bag out to the trash.

[Ivy]

I worked on my end table a little bit tonight, during the Oscars.

[Ivy]

I worked on the end table a LOT today, did some reading that was on it, too! Also, in the kitchen, I took my flat-drying red turtleneck sweater, hung it up and put the towel in the dirty clothes. I helped DH put away groceries when he came home, too. Also, I had a tote bag full of files, magazines, and workshop notes, markets, etc... and I found the perfect place for it in my office. I can grab it and go anywhere in the house to work from it. DH loaded and ran the DW. I washed some dishcloths and put them away. I re-decorated the eating bar a bit, too. Tomorrow, I'll work on the decluttering more. I decluttered a Xyron laminating machine, with cartridges and instructions. The laminating part is almost gone, I don't care for the machine, never was interested in making stickers or magnets from the other rollers, so it's being donated to ARC. Also, this evening, I started about thinking about going through my closet again. Too many larger baggy clothes are cramming all my clothes in together, so when I pull out a top it is wrinkled. It really needs to be re-organized big time! I might make outfits on hangers, too, so there are outfits all ready to put on, which will take up less space,too.

[Ivy]

I decluttered a ton of rubber bands, some spilled drawer toothpicks, taped up the toothpick boxes closed, and got rid of other stuff, too. I cleaned the kitchen drawers (2) for my FOCUS so decluttered as I went. I put some larger wooden spoons and wooden utensils in a large glass vase instead of cluttering up the drawer and also, I had several spatulas, all sizes, so I took a white kitty mug to store the spatulas in there. It looks nicer this way, in the drawers, and also the vase and mug adds to "stuff" on the counter, at the back-splash under 1 set of cabinets, it looks rather cute. I brought out a large white with blue leaves on it, large pottery container with lid, which fastens closed, which were under those cabinets where the wooded stuff and spatulas are now. Moving the pottery thing freed up extra space, plus decorates the eating bar so cute because the cobalt leaves match the cobalt pendent lights, too. It took an hour to do all this, I was sweating up a storm, my back ached, too. But stretches and a hot shower sure did help!

[Nancy]

Decluttering progress trash to the curb and gone!

[Ivy]

I decluttered my end table drawer. I found a Haiku poem written by my retired teacher/principal pen pal, in name of our newborn dgd, too. So I shared it with our Dson/Ddil today. DH decluttered an area around the sink, glass jars, for recycle. I decluttered some laundry and put it away. Threw away the pharmacy bag. I threw away old lists, stuff that didn't belong in the drawer and put prayer cards and a booklet on stress and praying about it in a large envelope, to read. I had a good Declutter Day.

[Ivy]

I got 1 double-bag (paper) with handles on it, filled with too-big-for-me clothes, 1 medium box of things plus more clothes and 1 large box of things plus clothes, to donate for the 13th, for pick-up by ARC.

Then, I went into our walk-in closet. I made little outfits out of bottoms on hangers with tops, turtlenecks under shirts and pullover sweaters, and tees under shirts. I rearranged the closet, so there's more order, too. Hark! There are fewer clothes squished in together so now they won't wrinkle because of a closet-girdle! So I'm very happy I finally got this particular closet done, because it eluded me during FOCUS: Closets week. (I worked on other closets.)

I took the tote with working materials in it, from the sofa area with notebooks, books, pencils, etc... on the sofa, where I'd been working today and reading. I put them on the end table, next to my chair. I did complain to DH, "Why is it that writers have so much paper clutter?!?!" DH said, "It's NOT "that bad"! Besides, everyone knows you're a writer!" I guess when company is coming, all I need to do is take 3 short stacks of things off my end table and sit them in my office, out-of-sight of company. I don't know why I do this, but I "compare" myself to dfriends, whose homes are magazine pretty in their living room or great rooms. Why do I compare? We're all unique in our own ways. I guess a little temporary clutter prior to deadlines is okay. When the deadline's over, I can minimize the papers, notebooks, put pencils back into mugs, etc... In other words, I should just get over it.