October 2025 - Sort, Tidy, Declutter!

[Harriet]

Are spooky shadows forming around some mystery stacks at your house?
Has clutter been sneaking in under cover of inattention?
Is it time to scare off a looming pile of disorganization?

October signals the slightly eerie thought that the next few months may bring more attention and require more hospitality than the rest of the year. Yipes - will potential guests find the furniture free for seating and the paths clear? Are bathroom surfaces neat, or do they look like the entire Health and Beauty section of the pharmacy is being auditioned? Everyone carries a phone these days, so with more guests possible, the phrase, "let's take a photo" could happen when we least expect! The last thing we need is for our hair to stand on end when hearing that!

Let's make October a month for progress in sorting, tidying, decluttering.

[Kittykatt]

Thank you for this gentle reminder a.d the start for a new month, Harriet!

I'm planning to finish putting the garden to bed for winter as the roses stop flowering. The group cover in my front garden also needs trimming back and the area mulching with bark, but I'm waiting I til it starts to die back naturally, as it looking pretty ATM. ( Possibly not even until next month? We'll see!)

Indoors I want to continue decluttering and deep cleaning my sitting room,bit by bit, and hopefully also do the staircase that leads upstairs out of the sitting room. (There should be NOTHING sitting on the stairs except for the bamboo pot with Matilda's toys. The deep cleaning is mostly brushing down the walls and treating any spots, taking down the pictures to clean and wiping down the skirting boards. Oh and I need to rehang the curtains that block off the staircase during the winter months, to keep the heat in the sitting room.

If I can get that done I'll be happy, as that's the "public" areas of the house done (hall, sitting room, stairs and bathroom) that a guest would likely see / use. The bedrooms are, of course private areas and the kitchen I can just shut the door on! Of course I would *like* to get more rooms done before I stop at the end of November / beginning of December to really concentrate on Christmas, but I feel the pressure is off!

[Twins' Mom]

I need to continue decluttering upstairs in my workroom. Still have all the stamping stuff. Need to make another attempt to sell and then it all go. The room looks so much better because I got stuff out of the line out sight from the hallway that I feel like I could let things slide instead of following through and I don't want that.

[Nancy]

I have been sorting in the new sewing zone.
Need to go a bit more in the creativity room but not today.

[Harriet]

Awww... .. I'm glad it felt gentle, Kittykatt. I was hoping to be cheerfully scary, not calendar-shocking, lol.

It's not too scary around here. There are mystery stacks in the shadows, though. Ugh.

The Cleaning Focus Calendar is my overview of where I want to be with both Declutter and cleaning. I jump around because of needs or limitations but stay relatively close to it. I go by those weekly rooms for cleaning but also decluttering for the next upcoming space so it can be cleaned more easily.

Recently Sept found the Focus weeks in
bathrooms (got a lot done - loving the new linens & happy with scrubbing results),
office/other room (the sewing area got ready for the project I'm working on now),
closets (went through the upper shelves of both master closets),
laundry (HRH worked there, although I did get some shelves decluttered).

And now October looks toward

storage (just a few days remain in storage week - for me there's more to do)
outdoor (a neater back door area is on my mind; I must leave plants to HRH, ds)
kitchen (for us, installation of dishwasher on the 8th we think - we're organized for it!)
living room
dining room

Then November 3rd is the end of the rounds this year! Maintenance after that takes us through the holidays to New Years'.

[Nancy]

Move some yarn back to the sewing zone out of the creativity room.
I have tossed old sheets after learning they did not take them at the vet. clinic
I do not have time to make a blanket with it.
Did bag up old towels for them and got them dropped off today.
Also some books.

[Kittykatt]

I've finished decluttering and deep cleaning my sitting room, and and now started on the staircase, where I've been through the bowl of Matilda's toys and decluttered them. I still have to clean the pictures and rehang them on the wall.