Big Changes

I am discovering a major truth. When you make big changes in the area where you live, it makes big changes in how you live. Shocking, right?

So much in the past month has changed here! I am, of course, not done. I don't know that I ever will be "finished" on this path. I have made some serious strides, though. After suffering through a lot of frustration while working on my bedroom, I finally sent my kids to spend the day at my best friends house. My husband, Carl, and I were able to accomplish our goals within about five hours.

The shameful mess at the beginning. 

I have no idea how it ever got so bad. I am not, by nature, a dirty person. I've never been naturally immaculate, but I am... tidy. The piles of projects and boxes from storage were confined to our room, away from crazy toddler paws, and it just... grew. It's like you start with a small mess, and it builds on itself. If you never make any progress and things are continually added to it, it eventually becomes impossible to do anything with it. Then what's already there hinders progress, because piles are blocking where other piles would be "put away". Eventually it just.... implodes. This room is the reason I decided to start researching minimalism. I've been so busy with it, it's also the reason that I haven't updated in a month. It was time well spent.


We started by moving it all out of the bedroom and into the living room.

Carl preps the wall with a safety bracket and slides the new bookshelf into place.

Next we loaded up the shelves so that all the books wouldn't be in the way. I've moved them around a little since then, rearranging and editing. I ended up moving the yellow magazine holders into the dining room (I'll show you in a moment.) and I've put some more craft supplies up top.

Next we moved all the furniture back in, in our new arrangement. I even took the small (mostly unused) dresser from the boys' room and slipped it in. Even though there are still some boxes and piles to go through, and TWO more pieces of furniture, the room still feels more spacious. I don't know if it's the layout, or the fact that the piles are cut down to 1/3 what they used to be, but I'm digging it.

LOOK!! CARPET!! 

*gasp*

There's still a few bins that I need to go through, mostly decor and linens, and there's now a pile of boxes in the corner. I still haven't had a chance to completely go through my closet, though I've finished going through everything (of clothes) that was in storage. That's the bad news. 

The good news is that our apartment building is having a yard sale in two weeks, everything in the boxes in the corner is marked to be sold, and I have a garbage bag stuffed full of 99% of the clothes that were in storage, ready to be sold! My goal is to have gone through EVERYTHING by the yard sale! 

One major undertaking that I've accomplished, but you can't really tell from photos, is cleaning out the filing cabinet. I collected ALL the piles of paperwork from around the house, (the top of the computer desk in the living room is now clear!!) dumped out the files, and went to town. 

I had thought that I would need to invest in a taller cabinet, one that had four drawers. After going through everything, it all fit into one drawer! It's amazing how much crap was shoved in there. Now that there is more space in there, I'm planning on getting all of the photos and momentos from the "precious things" bin in storage. That way they'll be accessible and I can start working on putting together baby books and memory albums. I'm saving these things for that purpose, I should probably actually do it!

*****

Our bedroom isn't the only place that has changed. I've been revisiting the kitchen and dining areas. Tweaking where things go, realizing that I don't use things, (A giant wok?? I forgot I even HAD that!) placing them aside for the yard sale, and slowly finding homes for things that used to live out on the counter.

The results?

Check out those counter tops!!

 

Whenever I go into the kitchen, I just want to trail my hands along the empty spaces. 

It's like it's just BEGGING to have food prepared on it! 

Cooking is so much more enjoyable when you're not working in the middle of a mess.

The container on the washer with the white powder? My own homemade laundry soap!

I don't love where the booster seat trays have ended up, on top of the microwave, but it's certainly tidier than the old solution: sitting on the counter top or dirty in the sink! I'm sure a better solution will occur to me sooner or later. (Eventually my youngest will just grow out of using them, I guess!)


The top of the fridge is clean and clutter free. I've managed to train myself to not just toss stuff up there when I'm not sure where it should go.

The old dish rack is chillin' in the corner. My Mom loves me and gave me a portable dishwasher for Christmas, so the rack hasn't seen much action. I'll still bust it out occasionally, when there's a large stock pot or something that I don't want to eat up space in a load of dishes. The turquoise bin is where we stash our bread. Then we have my thrift-store finds, a 70's chic glass fruit bowl, and a cutesy-utsey mushroom cookie jar. (Which is currently empty. Sadness.)

I've also taken the time to clean up the top of the pantries. 

You may remember the hot mess they were from my early entry Operation: Pantry.

Having these supplies tidied and streamlined has not

only made it easier on the eye, but it's so much easier to use! 

The binder has loose paper for free-coloring and practicing shapes. Behind the coloring supplies are poster boards, held tidy with a chip clip. All of the crayons and chalk are contained and easy to find, as are the coloring books and home making magazines.

The smaller vases are tucked back behind the smaller cook books, and everything is organized and clean. I've even tucked a notepad up there, which I've started using to jot down meal and recipe ideas.

Last, we have the shelves in the kitchen and dining room.

The shelf in the kitchen is where I've allowed myself to display a few kitschy, cluttery things. I still feel like it's too much, so I'm sure I'll be editing and switching things out. 

 

The artwork that's up there is inherited, so I don't necessarily LOVE it, but it's working for me. I'd rather have something I sort-of like, at this stage, than no art. I look forward to the day when I can walk into my home and only see things that I LOVE.

Here is the shelf in the dining room! It used to be absolutely covered in junk, and I'd constantly find myself dumping mail up there. Keeping it clean means that there's somewhere for Carl to put his wallet and sunglasses when he gets home each day from work.

Well, now that I have overloaded you with photos, I'll be on my merry little way. I have a lot to accomplish in the next two weeks, before the yard sale. I need to go through the rest of my clothes and my bathroom. There's a few more areas that I considered sharing photos of with you (the game closet, the linen closet) but I'll save those for another day. I need to start updating more frequently so that it doesn't all pile up like this! (Funny, how it's not that different from keeping a home clean!) 

I hope you are inspired to minimize and streamline your own living space. If I can make such strides toward a tidier and more enjoyable existence, then I guarantee that anybody can.

Procrastination, Thy Name is Me.

I have been struggling here. I had have grand plans, but I can't seem to buckle down and accomplish them. I think I'm just overwhelmed. No big surprise, right? The entire point of becoming a minimalist is to live a simpler life. When I look around, though, and see the complicated mess we live in, I freeze up.

I've seriously spent the past week+ avoiding the issue. I tried a few times to work on things in my bedroom, but as a SAHM to two toddler boys, I soon found myself giving up, shoving everything into a lump in the corner, and pretending it wasn't there. My bedroom has actually gotten WORSE since I started trying to declutter. I go in there, and feel like crying, I'm so overwhelmed. This morning I found myself daydreaming about some kind of fire or flood... that is NOT healthy thinking. I would just trash everything and start over, but as much as there is a lot of crap stuff in there, there's also a lot of nice, important things there.

Here... I'll show you what I'm talking about. This is just a peek of my bedroom, through the door...

I'm seriously so close to not sharing this, I'm really embarrassed. Maybe I'll be able to shame myself into getting it all finished, if for no other reason than that that I need to redeem myself.

Like I said before, it has gotten worse since I started trying to get things cleaned out. The dresser is covered in all the books that used to be in storage or on our second bookshelf (the repurposed DVD rack.) We were going to order a second, matching bookshelf ($25 @ Walmart.com!) so that our needs would be met... but they are out of stock! There is one that matches it in the boys' bedroom, so I'm considering stealing it and getting a different style for their room. I guess we'll see if it comes back into stock in the next couple days. I don't want to wait any longer.

The hope chest is now empty! It used to contain all of my "this is too precious to toss, but I can't justify having it out" stuff. You know... precious baby shoes, moments from our wedding, my graduation cap, love letters, things of that nature. I managed to whittle it down to just the things that would make me cry should they be lost, and put them into a rubbermaid container. I marked it <3PRECIOUS THINGS<3 and lovingly booted it all to storage. The bin is only half full, so there's plenty of space for me to squirrel away future items.

I'm planning on putting our sheets and blankets (currently stacked against one wall, yikes!) into the chest. Hopefully that will open up some space so that I'm not quite so overwhelmed at the thought of working in there.

As much as I'd like to go through my clothes RIGHT NOW, it's just not realistic. I'd have to have a whole day, and tackle the entire room. In my life, that's not happening. I guess I'll just have to keep chipping at it, one pile at a time.

Changing the Way I Shop.

We've been busy with life here, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about my new mission. In the past few days I've nearly purchased something and changed my mind THREE TIMES. Who knew that I so frequently had the urge to purchase unneeded things? Can you imagine the money I can save?

Of course, there have been even more occurrences of buyers remorse. It really is a learning process. I'll get home and realize that I bought something (or somethings) that I plain didn't need... and didn't really want. I'm going to challenge myself (and you!) to stop and think about EVERY item I place up on that counter. To consider the cost. How much time of my life am I trading to own this? Exactly where will I place it? Do I already have something that will do the job?




My little sister, who was the recipient of quite a few pieces of furniture, shared these photos with me the other day.

Our bench found new life in her sons room, serving as toy storage. Previously the toys had just been piled up in the storage.


And the TV with its stand have been set up and working great in her living room. The bottom drawer had its face fall off on the way home, but she'll able to easily repair it with a little wood glue.

I'm glad that I was able to re-home some nice furniture that I was just not using. It feels good!



Yesterday we pulled our window A/C out of storage, and while we were there I spotted and snagged the very last box of clothes that I have in storage. I've had two babies in the last 2.5 years, so to say that my weight has been fluctuating would be an understatement. Six months ago I had boxes and boxes of everything from size 6 (which is what I wore when I met my husband, 5.5 years ago) to size 17, befitting my post-baby body, to maternity and nursing clothes. Now that our youngest is 14 months old, I've managed to work my way down to a healthy (and hopefully steady!) size 8/10, the time has come for me to ditch the stuff that doesn't work.

Why am I keeping those size 17 jeans in the closet? Am I giving myself permission to once again be that size? No way! At least, not without giving birth first, and I don't plan on doing that again for quite a few years. So why am I holding onto them? Now that I have all these clothes shoved into my closet, I can't find what fits (USEFUL) and what I like (BEAUTIFUL). Aren't those the rules? Only what is useful and beautiful? If I never wear something because of a stain or snag, then there is really no point in keeping it.

So, my next project: Closet Catastrophe. Stay tuned for the carnage.

First Things First

The Joy of Less suggests starting with one room, one drawer, or one cabinet. Taking something, completely emptying it out, and then selecting which things to KEEP, rather than what to get rid of.

I love this idea. What I've been doing for the past year is selecting what to toss, piece by piece. The problem with this is that for every one item I get rid of, I seem to bring in two or three more. So by keeping three items, tossing one, and bringing in two, I'm not making any progress. Not only do I need to keep less, but I need to bring in less. If I follow this pattern, the theory is that I will then one day not be swimming in a sea of things.


I think there's an extra step that I first need to take: furniture. I simply have too much of it. I've been in denial of this, and collecting unneeded pieces for some time. I think the reason for this is because I've had to start over twice.

Let me explain.

When my husband and I first moved in together, it was in a joint-cross country move. We were young(er), in love, and way too anxious to start the next phase of our lives. So we dropped everything, packed a few bags with some "essentials", and jetted from Utah to Florida. We didn't even have a guaranteed apartment lined up, just one who had pre-approved us and said they had openings. We were footloose, and with four large suitcases and two carry-on bags (one of which only held my husband's desktop computer) between us, we had very little holding us down. As a girl who'd previously had a wardrobe that filled a large walk-in closet, three dressers, under the bed boxes, and a spare hanging rack (like the clearance racks you see in stores), having a wardrobe that fit into one (admittedly large) suitcase was absolutely LIBERATING.

The first night in our brand new apartment was a big adventure. We walked to a near-by grocery store and used our meager funds to purchase some basic foods and a few cooking implements we'd neglected to think about. A frying pan, a pot, a serving spoon and a spatula, two cups, two bowls, two spoons, two forks, and two knives. One of our bags contained things like a couple of towels, a shower curtain, basic toiletries, some spices, a few rolls of toilet paper, a few blankets, and one pillow. We bunked down for the night on the floor, cuddled together, our only "furniture" the stolen shopping cart standing in the corner.

In my wallet was a gift card to Walmart, given to me by my mother before I had left. The second day we were in Florida, we walked the three miles to buy an air mattress, then schlepped it back home. I'd never before felt anything so comfortable. Over the next few months we fashioned furniture from cardboard boxes, constructing a desk and dining tables on the floor. We had the good fortune to make friends with a couple who happened to have a car, but also didn't have any furniture in their home save for a bed. They set up their computers in our apartment, and drove us to Walmart where we purchased four bean bag chairs. You'd have thought we were royalty, we were so excited to be sitting in a semi-chair position. We lived like this for a while longer, all hanging out and playing computer games together in our free time, until one neighbor was moving and gave us an old couch.

This couch had a hole in the side, which I repaired with duck tape. It was also threadbare and a tacky 70's gold striped pattern, but with one of my blankets expertly thrown over it, it became the most luxurious spot in our place.


We lived in this apartment for a few years while we both went to school full time. Over time we replaced the cardboard furniture, bean bag chairs and decrepit couch with other, nicer, cast-offs from graduating students. Then we were married and the gifts we received filled out the place quite nicely. Our kitchen gadgets filled the cupboards, and we even bought furniture to accommodate the overflow. Eventually we had a fully furnished apartment.

Soon enough came the time to leave. We were done with school, out of money, and I was seven months pregnant. It was time to cut our ties and hightail it back home to Utah. We had to do it fast, and do it cheap.

In the end we disposed of most of our furniture, choosing only to take with us what was "essential". The only pieces we brought were our futon, doing double duty as bed and seating, and our computer desk. Once again, we had hardly any furniture. Our family came to the rescue, donating odd pieces to the cause. Within a month, we had recouped our losses, yet people kept giving. And for some reason, I kept accepting. Our apartment filled up fast, and soon the walls were lined with chairs, side tables, and cabinets. You had to walk a certain way through rooms to keep from bumping into things.


At the end of our lease we had to put the majority of our things into storage and move into my mom's basement. (Thank you, Economy!) We just didn't have the funds to live on our own anymore. So we crammed as much stuff as we could into a bedroom at her place. Two weeks after moving in we discovered I was pregnant with our second child. We were finally in a financial place to move back out two weeks after he was born. Nine months later, we were moving on. But something had happened. We'd accumulated, and grown. Now not only did we have a second child, but our first child had somehow evolved from "baby" to "toddler", and had all the accessories to go with it.


We packed our things, pulled the rest from storage, and tried to set up house. The only problem was that we were trying to recreate 1000 sq feet of living space, plus nine months of accumulation, into what we estimate is a 650-700 sq foot apartment. We had little success, and a lot of our things are still collecting dust in a storage unit.

We've now lived here for about 13 months, and the situation hasn't much improved. I've tossed things out here and there. I've shuffled and rearranged furniture. I've bought container after container, attempting to cull the ever flowing tides of stuff. So far nothing has worked.

My husband and I decided this tax season was finally the time to be rid of our collected furniture, and start from scratch in our living room. So I sold or gave away our mish-mash collection, and we bought a beautiful new sectional and ottoman on clearance. We banished excess furniture from our living room, keeping only what we NEED, and I LOVE IT.

I want to recreate this feeling though out the rest of our apartment. There's finally space to spend time in here, to relax and play. It's amazing.

Don't get me wrong, the living room still has plenty of "clutter" to conquer, but just limiting the amount of furniture, keeping only what we NEED and LOVE, has wrought such a huge change in how I see the space.

So that, dear readers, is why I'm going to be taking care of furniture first.



Tomorrow starts my journey. I must decide what to keep, what to rearrange, and what's getting the boot. I'm so excited!!