Cool the Hot Spots August, 2011

[Harriet]

Where are your household hot spots and how are they making you lose your cool?

Though we all may have different "hot spots", we all get burned, don't we? When asked, we can immediately tell about them: those frustrating surfaces that are constantly re-cluttering and driving us crazy. Ironically, they probably form RIGHT where we need to have space to work. And to bug us even more, they can be obvious to visitors.

A prime space for a hot-spot is at an entrance - the surfaces people first pass as they come home cumbered by packages, mail, and payroll or school stuff. But a desk quickly becomes a hot-spot, too, keeping us from efficient Desk Days, and if there are readers in the family or several subscriptions, a surface in the living area may turn "hot" quickly. Bathroom counters are quick to catch clutter but slow to let go!

August is a hot, hot month for many of us, and we may be looking for smaller, "light" projects to help us cool down! Try COOLING a hot spot or two and MAINTAINING them at a nice comfortable "temperature" this month. 21 days of remembering to keep a hot spot clear may give you a habit that keeps you refreshed every time you look at it!

[Harriet]

Handy-Dandy Reference for decluttering AHEAD of Focus Cleaning

8/1/2011 living room
8/8/2011 dining room
8/15/2011 porch/entry
8/22/2011 bedrooms
8/29/2011 bathrooms

Tweak as desired to fit your lovely home!

Looking for Indiana's Focus Cleaning threads instead? HERE'S YOUR SLIDE! (calendar is at top of forum)

[Nancy]

I loaded a few food donations of things not high enough in fiber that found their way into our pantry. I'm glad for the room I got getting those loaded in to the trunk to go to the donation place!

[Harriet]

Nancy, some donations I've also thought of right now are school-supply type things. We have some wide-rule paper and spirals and have learned that dd12 will HAVE to use college-ruled this year. I think our church is going to be a school-supply drop off place.

My hot spots are

dining table
clothes dryer top
my desk

The dryer is probably the most do-able clearing and the desk will take the most effort, since it dovetails into all kinds of applications of paperwork. Well, also because it is just awful.

I'll try to keep up with posting on how I do with this!

Living area declutter ahead of cleaning starts today. There's a table there that needs attention. Video media are also getting a little rowdy! If I have time, there are 2 small drawers that are slightly ~~~mysterious~~~, lol, and the top of the hutch between living and dining could be considered part of this week.

I want to really, really give 15 minutes per day and make up the 15 if circumstances make me miss a day! Yay!

[Nancy]

Glad I went through the notebooks in June and got them out of here and to the thrift shop in time to get tagged and out on the shelves for now hopefully. Dd is using the shelves they were on at her house for gkiddos books & toys and as an added bonus the basement here looks bigger now. Yea celebrating that progress.

[Harriet]

I took photos of 3 science-project-type large displays dd12 has done over the last year or so and took them to the cans. She had been storing them behind her door and they were usually not a problem, but sometimes getting on our nerves. No reason to keep, and she will have a photo of each so a memory of her work. Actually very bulky - why were we putting up with them?

[Nancy]

The dining table is a current sorting station today.
So we are getting through this and I found empty totes that will come in handy I am sure.

It's cool in the basement and working down there in the afternoon is therapeutic when our nerves are a bit jangled.

Tambourines are on top of the piano to go with it for the grand kids.

Tomorrow the buckets and trash cans will be rounded up to one area as per the Realor's suggestion.

[Harmony]

Question: do you consider organizing stuff the same as decluttering, or is decluttering totally getting rid of stuff?

I did both. Reorganized the laundry room. A lot of cleaning and putting like things together into containers along the way.

And HUGE declutter done in the shop. Was getting ridiculous out there and all spilling over into my garage so there's barely room for the car. Helped DH set up new shelf unit and we organized and decluttered the whole workbench area, which is about 10' long with a shelf underneath. We have our large garbage can stuffed and I'm hoping we didn't go over the weight limit.

Put all the recycling together, aluminum gathered into another big garbage can was stuffed and sticking out the top and so heavy I couldn't move it. One bucket of brass, too. Ready for the metal recycling place who will weigh for us.

DH does not get attached to stuff, but everything has a use, old tool parts are reused to fix others, etc. etc. And leftover building supplies come in handy at other jobs. So there is always a lot.

There is so much stuff even he was getting annoyed with it all. I now have permission to take 2 bifold doors, new but never used to habitat resale place, also the range hood we took down when we added the microwave. Months ago when we did this he wanted to keep the hood for future use somewhere. So it's good he's ready to let go of stuff.

We are about half way through the shop. There is much to do in the other garage too, cleaning out and moving stuff around. I am out of sync with the schedule here, but when DH is in the mood to declutter, I drop everything and help. He does not get in the mood often enough!

[BookSaver]

WTG Harmony! and Good Work to your DH, too, for being willing to let go.

Last week's decluttering here was mostly paper. Magazines, newspapers, general paper. The recycle bin was full when it went to the curb.

Decluttered some magazines from the library sale shelf before they even came home. Friends of the Library only charges a dime per magazine and they were current issues, but I flipped through them at the library and decided there wasn't anything I wanted to keep. Someone else might not count that as decluttering, but it was a victory for me because I love magazines. I just don't have time to read them and they take up too much space.

I was not able to get into the dining room at all last week, so that will be priority this week. As I mentioned (here or in PWYC?), our dining room is currently a storage dumping place. I want it back to a real dining room by Thanksgiving.

I need to go through the boxes of sewing stuff (given to me by friends) in there and donate most of it. Those decisions will be easy. A bunch of Christmas supplies also ended up buried in there; they belong in a closet upstairs. I will be letting go of a bunch of cookbooks, I'm obviously not using them any more. I don't remember what else is in there, but it's coming out. I've decided how to switch the furniture around once the boxes are out of the way.

The temperatures are supposed to be cooler this week. DH gave me a fan he doesn't need in his man cave. The combination of those two will make it a lot easier to block out time to move a bunch of stuff.

It's a plan!

[Harmony]

I got some stuff out of the shop & garage before DH changes his mind!

Went to Habitat thrift and they took the bi-fold door and 2 pocket doors. Both brand new never used. Place wouldn't take back wrong sizes ordered. We've stored at least 3 years, 1 other was given away but these were here forever and we're tired of the space taken up. Older exhaust hood dropped off also. Still works and looks good. We got a tax slip for the above merchandise.

Also, I had the front seat full of little stuff which they took also. Cat carrier & fountain bowl, wiper blades in their pkgs., candle never used, rubber tips for furniture in orig. pkgs. I'm pretty good getting returns back to stores, but this stuff sat around forever. Cat carrier was used and we're not getting a cat any time soon!

Oh, out in the recycle bin this AM went probably 1000 sheets of old pin-feed computer paper somebody gave us ages ago and we kept for kiddos to scribble on and they didn't...and lots of cardboard and extra plastic containers found in the shop.

Freeing experience! Feels so good!