September is a traditional transition month. Schools start up, weather starts to give us hints that change is coming. If you've felt stifled by weather lately, September comes along and gives some relief, ~~~ air flow ``` , and a sense of possibilities.
When it's September, it's kinda hard to pretend the holidays are far away! The "Plans" are already starting up, with first weeks underway as of now!
How would it help YOUR house to have a new PLAN for clearing spaces and organizing storage?
What would help most in your lovely home ... ..
15 minutes a day faithfully?
A big push once a week?
Measuring the "donation" or "toss" boxes and bags, either by size and number, or by weight?
Buying some new storage supplies or cleaning supplies, for fresher smells and prettier views?
Whatever your plan, we hope you'll tell about it here and let us cheer. It will do us good and maybe we'll try to keep up!
I need to declutter but I am not good at getting rid of things and neither is dh. I think I hve done most in the garden, for now, except cutting back the lavender which I have started.
I started a vertigo episode (oh joy) I think it is passing off now but I have done very little today.
Do I really have to keep all of dd's Community Nursing Service notes?
I have one basket I can let go of from the potting shed.
Plant cage next / some planters to put in the shed for letting go of as I do fall & winter prep. on the patio area.
I am finding motivation hard. I did in early August take 3 car loads of stuff to our church yard sale. At the beginning of summer I cleaned out and declutters my clothing both closet and drawers and guest room is totally decluttered. The areas that need done.
My office - I gave up Mary Kay and I need to donate or throw away things out of closet and 2 hutches. My bookcased need decluttered and organized. My desk and desk drawers need attention and my husband would like me to rearrange my office so I am not stuck in a corner but honestly I can't think of a different way to arrange the furniture in this room, I have a 6 foot counter height hutch, a big 5 foot desk, 2 tall book cases, a closet and door that take up one wall and a tall window that is only 1 foot above floor on opposite all right in the middle. I also have a corner hutch in one of the 2 corners that it would work with in this room. He doesn't like where my desk is because when he comes to help me he feels claustrophobic. It is a small bedroom turned into my office. All horizontal surfaces are cluttered. I want to set my closet up inside instead of a Mary Kay product closet to an office closet, my filing cabinets are in the bottom and I have 3 shelves above. I have a laminator, extra computers and such it is possible I may be able to get rid of at least one of the bookcases. I want to set my corner cabinet up as my Reiki cabinet. When it is organized it works fine and get a non cluttered extra chair to sit back by my desk.
The other area of my house that needs decluttering is bathroom cabinet and drawers.
The third area is kitchen pantry and lower drawers and cabinets - we want to have another until built to replace a dresser we are using and that would take care of much of the clutter.
I just am not motivated because I don't think I can tackle it in one day and that will drive me insane. So I don't start and it gets worse.
I could focus on one area at a time. Like closet first, then book cases second and hutches third and desk last, it gets somewhat decluttered once a month.
I also have to declutter my gift closet.
OUr house is tidy but our storage spaces are a bit of a mess.
Oh, vergerswife, I hope that vertigo has let go of you! I think Kittykatt's advice is very good.
Nancy, your patio will be lovely.
Kittykatt, great work on donating clothing.
Costumelady, Hi! And whether you feel you're good at finding motivation or not, I think you are doing great. What you got done in August was wonderful. Congratulations to you for kindness in giving donations, too.
Costumelady, my problem is the stamina right now. I feel motivated, because I truly dream of creativity, but it has taken so much time to get the room ready. I can only now say that after days of specific declutter, I'm ready to bring a project out and set up to finish it. My sewing room and office is also a small bedroom originally. My grandmother's when I was a child, my dgrandson's much later when his ddad's family lived here a while. In the meantime a storage room for my parents. We moved here 3 or 4 years back. Last year, I completely finished the largest, most difficult quilt I've ever made, and all in this little room. Now I look around and say how in the world did I manage it, because we had NOT made good decisions about the space.
I can "see" your difficulty with large furniture and a sightly unusual tall architecture (the window) from your description. I have two large desks with a corner desk unit between. My husband thought it was brilliant to "join" the two with the corner unit because he could envision me cutting out quilts here, even ironing, while having one of the desks for my office desk. Big problem is that the corner unit is 1.5 inches higher that the two desks, lol, so they can't be used as one complete surface. The other desk has my sewing machine. There's an ironing station across the room (small ironing board until I need the larger one, which is rare) and a design board beside that, from ceiling to floor, very like your window, that needs to have access to walk right up to it and work. There's a cutting station on the fourth wall, slightly in the way of good access to the closet.
If it is valuable at all to have advice from someone who has gotten herself into a similar boat I would suggest thinking of the clutter on the horizontal surfaces as a separate project and don't let that get all tangled up in your brain with the rest of the room's decisions. (Ask me how I know that can happen.) Get the surfaces cleared, pat yourself on the back, and THEN fret about furniture placement and closet. Consider having a sorting surface outside of the room - sometimes just an old, clean sheet over a made bed can let you bring a bunch of unrelated clutter to it and be efficient in decision-making. Another idea we've had discussed here before has been to take a photograph of spaces and look at the photo when you are away from the room. Sometimes you can get an idea or a plan (like furniture plan) better that way.
Anyway, thanks for letting me think of your ponderings instead of mine for a bit, since maybe it prods my brain about my own. Best wishes - you have already proved you are very good at this, and you can do it again.
, and a sense of possibilities. 
once a week? 
I would suggest thinking of the clutter on the horizontal surfaces as a separate project and don't let that get all tangled up in your brain with the rest of the room's decisions. (Ask me how I know that can happen.) Get the surfaces cleared, pat yourself on the back, and THEN fret about furniture placement and closet. Consider having a sorting surface outside of the room - sometimes just an old, clean sheet over a made bed can let you bring a bunch of unrelated clutter to it and be efficient in decision-making. Another idea we've had discussed here before has been to take a photograph of spaces and look at the photo when you are away from the room. Sometimes you can get an idea or a plan (like furniture plan) better that way.