Graduate to Higher Goals June, 2011

[Harriet]

Sometimes you're ready to pick some "Graduate Work" , mark a goal date on your calendar, and break through to a higher level of clutter control!

If you make sure you are taking steps to advance in your decluttering journey, you'll continue to be motivated! Don't stay at an elementary level of "just keeping up". Be inspired to dream big and set goals that will truly improve your home and your state of mind!

How can you graduate to an advanced goal?
Could you pick an area of your home and take it from "so-so" to Magazine-Cover-Shoot level?
Is there a storage area that could go from "helpful" to "downright efficient" with attention from you?
Is there a space you've been dreaming of decorating as soon as you finish the decluttering there?

Tell us all about your decluttering changes. We'll be so impressed with your advanced degree of inspiration!

[Harriet]

Handy-Dandy Reference for decluttering AHEAD of Focus Cleaning

first of month - finish decluttering porch/entry
6/6/2011 bedrooms
6/13/2011 bathrooms
6/20/2011 office/other room
6/27/2011 closets

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

[Nancy]

I added a few things to the car trunk to be decluttered books I was done with. Grateful I had
time to get some reading in last month and that I can let go of these books this month. yea!

[Harriet]

At the end of this always-needed "bedroom week" I've taken a sideways trip to the living areas to get extra-ready for specific new company tomorrow. Except for the beads that spilled that went well. What I had dd12 do with me was to stand back and watch as I started at the hallway door and moved around the room, noticing each thing and telling me honestly if it belonged, or if we were just overlooking clutter because we were used to it. She saw a lot of overlooking had been done!

Actually looking forward to "bathroom week" starting tomorrow. The front bathroom is fine and only needs work in the cabinets, which can come later. The real work needs to be done in the Master Bathroom, where the countertop has recently become a magnet for so many out-of-place things. Well, in fairness, none that would be surprising to type here and say they were on a bathroom countertop, it's just the sheer number of items! Surely they have somewhere to go!!!

In the new issue of Good Housekeeping, there is an article on storage that shows a steel utility shelving unit/bookcase dressed up to fit in any room. They took plain curtains and put velcro around 3 top edges of shelves (not the back against the wall) and curtains and "hung" them to cover the unit to the floor. The top edges were stiff, straight and neat, of course, so it doesn't look like cloth except maybe at the bottom. They used a lined curtain, and pulled back decoratively at the center opening to show triangles of the lining fabric, because they had very neat solid-colored containers on the center shelves. That wouldn't be necessary. I would have linked to the photo, but the site still shows last month's issue. HRH says they must have affixed/nailed the unit to the wall somehow to keep it and the curtains so perfectly straight with the wall, but he says that's not too hard.

[lucylee]

Well, obviously, I am making headway in ds's old room. HUGE garbage bag is sitting at the road right now, along with several smaller ones which were included in the trash compactor bag. (Usually that is the only trash bag we have, but this week -- and several more, I'd suspect -- will include the extra bag from this excavation.

The plan is to get thick shelving boards and maybe concrete blocks to support the weight of shelves loaded w/record albums. DS says HIS plan was/is to do this at his house and transfer records over there. I know that is not really going to be the most beautiful way to house this collection, but it seems to be the sturdiest method. Built in cabinets would be really nice... but alas, we have not won the lottery lately.
Re: ds's idea to take records to his house... I'm really thinking the bulk of this collection should stay here, where there IS ample space, if we only use it wisely. Ddil said she had already informed him that when/if a child comes along, his Man-Cave/Music Room at their house will cease to exist. And she did tell me she does not like to even go in there now. She wants a computer of her own. She said it's not that it is so terribly cluttered, it's just that it's small, and it has all his stuff in there, and she just feels claustrophobic in it. (We could have -- and DID -- tell them, the medium/dark blue paint in this small space would have that effect... but you know... live & learn.)

[Lynlee]

Congratulations Harriet and Lucy on progress underway.

I have taken my living room to a new level of decluttered and clean/vacuumed.
Not pristine, or magazine shoot by any margin, but much more livable.
The new lounge/chaise purchased with 9 days to delivery was motivation.
I still have more in the room to do. Theres book cases to organise/rearrange/ declutter.
a buffet interior needs the same. and to work on maintaining what I've gained.
also to get rid of the old suite currently tarped in thecar port.
Thinking I'll see if anyone wants to "redo" a 70s style suite.

[Harriet]

Love hearing about your new level of declutter and clean, Lynlee! Hope the new chaise lounge looks great in the room.

Things are changing, lucylee - ought to make you feel like you've accomplished a lot.

Nancy has a new "Moving" thread started under this one, if anyone would like to join in or share some tips and encouragement.

[Nancy]

I get it graduate theme here!
As we graduate aka down sizing decluttering is massive this weekend in the area of books, , mags., notebooks and planner, afore mentioned things have been purged and delivered to
library and thrift shop. Glad for progress.

Now we need to shred and deal with the papers that have been purged, journals, I've sorted and still wondering about my sketchbooks. One dresser has been enmptied that only had things in a couple of the drawers. I think dgson needs it. We will see.

The rolling cart for sorting is in the creative room and I've swaped it out with the book case that was in here and that fits much better in the dining room as it was narrower than the rolling cart. Odds and ends of things are on it.

So glad I hung on to totes I'd emptied out before for now they are holding to shred or burn stuff like papers journals etc.

[BookSaver]

In the interest of documenting every tiny bit of progress so hard won:

3 large tote bags of magazines have been reduced to 2" stack of recipes to try / photos I like / articles to read.

(I love magazines but struggle to find the time to read them. Have dropped all but 1 subscription, and now only buy them at the library where donated magazines sell for 10 cents. Somehow that makes it much easier to rip them apart or even recycle without reading.)

Recycle bin should be full again this week. No, let's think positive and make that WILL be full again by tomorrow night.

Friends of the Library are planning their annual book sale on July 16th. Must find time to weed the equivalent of 1 full shelf -- 3 linear feet? -- to donate by Wednesday, July 13th, as that is the night they will begin to set up the sale. There, now that I've written it down, it will be easier to DO!

[Nancy]

Way to go everyone!
Still hoping we do not have to move but if we do not it's still good to sort and declutter 30+ years of living in one place can add up iykwim. I'm happy to be making some progress in the decluttering progress.

Did some in the camper yesterday and made quite a bit of progress in there.

Only gave each grand child one or two things so they are not hauling boxes of clutter home that can frustrate parents we have learned.