July 2025 - Sort, Tidy, Declutter! Half-Year-Mark Edition

[Harriet]

Today is a milestone of 2025, as we begin the second half of the year!

Is it time to ~^~shake ~^~ things ~^~up ~^~ and try new ideas?

How is your PLAN working - would you enjoy a change?
Is there better CALENDARING that would help keep you focused?
Are there CONTAINERS (trash, storage) you'd like to use differently or replace?
Are you using RECORD KEEPING to your advantage or do you need to rethink?
Do you need to refocus on DONATION?

Come in and let us know how 2025 is going for your lovely home!

[Nancy]

Got the reset done on two rooms yesterday.
The under stairs area got de-cluttered dd may need that for her totes. Sigh.
Not sure that is the right direction... hum...update she has not bright anything over or mentioned it again yea!

[Nancy]

This week de-cluttered a small fanny pack of things for neighbors & grand kids!
Useful items.

[Kittykatt]

Sorting / decluttering and tidying has sort of been thrust upon me this month.

DH has decided he wants to reorganise the spare room/ office, and get a new to him desk and cupboard. This is currently residing in the garage, as I pointed out we need to take stuff *out* of the room before bringing more in, or we won't be able to move!

DH also wants to get rid of the tallboy, which I shall be commandeering for the bedroom. I need more space for my jumpers and also for my meds (my inhalers are quite bulky and I like to have e several in stock so I don't risk running out). This will mean a big reorganization in the bedroom too. I'm planning to do this when he is away the latter half of next week. I have a sneaking suspicion that the contents of the desk and tallboy won't fit in the cupboard unless he declutters his "stuff " severely. But the new desk is much longer than the old desk, and we still need to be able to open the door to the room fully and access the power sockets easily! So realistically there will be no room for the tallboy. If the tallboy is moved while he is away, then it will be a fait accompli when he comes home, and he won't be tempted to try and turn the spare room / office into a secondhand furniture showroom!

So when DH clears his existing desk, I need to photograph it before he dismantles it (otherwise it won't go down the stairs) so I can advertise it in the "free" section of Nextdoor. Hopefully someone will need it and come and take it off our hands and give it a new lease of life. I also need to see if I can find the instructions.for assembly (it arrived as a flat pack). DH was talking about doing something this weekend. But he is out with his DBro today, he has an induction.day at the local steam railway tomorrow where he hopes to volunteer when he retires, he is back to the office Monday and WFH Tuesday, before he leaves for his work trip on Wednesday. So realistically there isn't the time, and if I don't mention it, then he probably won't think about it!

Also the kitchen - we took advantage of the Amazon Prime days to buy a new fridge which we badly needed. This one is larger, so won't fit under the worktop where the old one used to go. Which has meant lots of reorganisation in the kitchen. It's also spurred me.on to start sorting and cataloging the surplus dolls house furniture I'm planning to sell on eBay.

So that's three rooms! Fortunately, the current hot weather means I'm currently doing more inside. And bit by bit I'll get there

Obviously I can't move desks by myself, but my plan this week is to empty the tallboy and crate the contents. Then move the furniture I need to move in the bedroom to accommodate it, cleaning as I go, before bringing in the tallboy. When it's empty and with the drawers taken out, it should be easy for me to move it. And then sort through, declutter and put my out of season jumpers in there. And also find a more organised way of storing my spare meds. I don't have to get everything "perfect" right away. Just ensure the space is used.

[Nancy]

I have been sorting and doing a tidy in the former sewing zone this week.
The fabric table got improvement I could see.
Have ribbons for crafting on the staging area.
Got a box off the floor for the other room moved.
Found a spot for the jeans I will cut up for fabric or donate

A Aspot for them opened up on a shelf that had empty containers for notions.
Next will the the folding counter that has a few misc. items on it.

[Nancy]

Got a compliment for dd on my decluttering efforts.
Also that she's learned one in one out rule for the apartment that she's in as well.
-----
Fri. update
I went through my sent e-mails and made some progress deleting some while listening to TV for the win!

[Kittykatt]

I've made some progress. The new fridge has arrived and its installation went smoothly. As expected , I had a *lot* of decluttering to do when re-jigging the kitchen to accommodate.the fridge. But it's made me finally list the surplus furniture for my doll's house on eBay. I still have a little bit to do, but most of it is now packed up in labeled boxes in the garage.

I moved the tallboy out of the spare room and into the bedroom, cleaning as I went. The previous contents of the tallboy are now in crates, awaiting DH's attention, and it is now filled with my winter jumpers.

I think DH is intending to dismantle the old desk and bring up the new to him desk this weekend.
.

[Twins' Mom]

You are moving right along, KittyKatt! And Nancy's been working too! WTG you two!

[Twins' Mom]

You are moving right along, KittyKatt! And Nancy's been working too! WTG you two!

I did manage to move that plant stand and the rocking chairs out last week. I need to get dh to pull out a few more things from the crisis that is our garage.

[Kittykatt]

WTG getting things out of the garage, Twins. I would like to work on our garage too, but I can't do anything until DH has sorted his tools out. (He has managed to acquire some very smart, sturdy toil boxes that were being thrown out at work, and he is planning to sort and decant his tools, which are currently in several locations, Including some of the "cantilever" type tool boxes, which are heavy, unwieldy and also have rusted over the years, making them very difficult for me to open.

Before DH went away, he had announced his I mention of working on this over the weekend, but he's since changed his mind and wants to do the spare room/ office instead. At least that will hopefully mean that the new-to-him desk will come out of the garage and up to the house! I have suggested a few names (strong men neighbours) who could be persuaded to help with this, as both the table and cupboard are very heavy and are beyond my abilities. 20 years ago I might have tried to help, but not now. I value my back! ( Which would not be happy with lifting and carrying such heavy weights despite the exercises I do).

I shall need to be on hand today, to photograph the desk when it's empty (but before it's dismantled,) ready to post in in the free section of Nextdoor. I just want it gone, and I would rather someone else found a use for it rather than take it to the tip. Which has made me think - I wonder if DF CW would like it for G nearly 13yo? I'll send her a WhatsApp with the picture before we do anything else with it

I also want to deep clean the space where the old desk was before the new desk is brought up to the house. I also think I'm probably. going to need to help DH declutter and find homes for things that won't fit in the cupboard

Hopefully by the end of the weekend, the spare room / office should be back to normal!