Does It Bring You Joy?

I read "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo toward the end of last year, and decided to try the "Kon Mari" method in my home. As with anything I read, I take away the parts that I find useful and modify the parts that don't fit with my way of thinking. So far I'm finding the method refreshing and effective!

For those who are not familiar with this book, the author encourages us to discard -- "all at once, completely and intensely!" We don't have to be hoarders to know that many of us simply have too much stuff. The theory is that once we get rid of the excess, we can keep our homes cleaner and neater. I'd read the Kon Mari Method can seem a bit intense, and Kondo has some ways of dealing with things that are unique for some of us (thanking and saying goodbye to things, for instance). She appreciates minimalism. I have raised a family and have decades of collecting many things, so am keeping these added "life layers" in mind as I choose what to keep and what to toss. 

There is a certain order to clearing things out, according to the Kon Mari Method. You start with clothes, then books, then papers, then komono (miscellaneous), and lastly momentos.  Out the window are the traditional decluttering methods of one room at a time--instead you are to purge all the items for a particular category throughout the entire house.

Clothes
I tackled clothes right after I read the book. I was shocked at how strewn around the  house my clothes were! I found them in my bedroom closet, the front entry closet, the laundry room, two different dressers, and there were even a couple sweaters in the trunk of my car! No stone was left unturned as I weeded out the tired and poor fitting, and constantly asked myself the all important question at the heart of the book, "Does it bring me joy?" If not -- out it went! After hauling several bags of clothes to charity, I was amazed at the new found space! I even tried my hand at the recommended folding of my sweaters into rectangles that would stand on edge in the drawer. This allows me to easily see what colors I have to choose from.

Books
Next on the list was books. In my heart I knew I was never really going to re-read many of my fiction books, so out they went. Also gone -- old textbooks, some of which were written 30 years ago! I culled other books and made a large dent in my overgrown collection, but did keep many that "bring me joy."

Papers
Next it was on to papers. It is best to approach this task with the mindset of Kondo's opening words to the chapter: plan to "discard everything!" I knew full well that wasn't really going to happen, but having "the idea" in the back of my mind helped me be more ruthless about what I truly kept. I will always have more papers than the book recommends for a few reasons:

1. I'm a die-hard snail mail fan and postcard collector, so have stationery, letters, and postcards. These are things that bring me joy.
2. Genealogy is a hobby. While I try to keep much of my family research on my computer, I do keep logs of research completed, copies of some hard-to-find documents, and research handed down from relatives.
3. I'm a speech and language therapist. I have collected some valuable materials through the years that I do refer to and use. In addition, I am required to maintain some records.
4. I own a home and car, and have children. There is a certain amount of paperwork needed in these areas in being a responsible person.

In my bedroom was an ugly metal file cabinet with a jammed drawer. I hauled all papers from that old cabinet upstairs to my home office to file or purge. It was so freeing, and I really lucked out as the next day there was a note on my mailbox for a "metal hauling" service that was going to be in the neighborhood that week. Perfect timing for me to drag that yucky cabinet out to the street and have it taken away! This cleared a corner in my bedroom and inspired me to angle my little writing desk under the windows. I love to sit there, looking out at the birds and trees, and pen a quick note to someone.

In the kitchen, I tossed or filed any accumulated papers, leaving only four pretty files folders in a basket: current bills (in the blue folder with the flower), 2015 tax receipts, items to take care of this month, and filing. I left this basket in the kitchen because it's the most convenient place to deal with the mail as it comes in.

 

The filing folder contents go to the home office when I make a trip upstairs and are immediately filed. While I don't have much filing to do with the adopted Kon Mari mindset, I do have some items like insurance policies, professional license renewal proofs, continuing ed certificates, and so forth.

I was about a third of the way through the paper purge when the holidays arrived, and then the next thing I knew the end-of-the-school- year craziness hit. Now that summer has arrived, I'm committed to finishing this project, so am back in my office again, tunes cranked up, tossing papers.

I've found it convenient to toss the papers to be recycled directly into paper bags. That way the whole bag can be tossed in my curbside recycle bin.

I also have a couple growing boxes of papers to shred. This file cabinet was completely filled with old private practice papers, home warranty manuals, and notes from seminars.

 

ALL were unnecessary and have been purged, and the cabinet is completely empty now! I have a feeling I will be using it for crafting supplies or something else that brings me joy, but if not, I will re-home it.

I'm eager to finish the paper purge and move on. Have you Kon Mari'd your house? How did it go? What did you learn?

Christmas at the White House

 

Magic is in the air at Christmas time, and the decorations have much to do with setting that mood.  A friend of mine and her husband were among the fortunate ones who were selected to travel to Washington D.C. this year and help decorate the White House for Christmas!  She said it was one of the most marvelous experiences of her life.  These photos are from HGTV's website -- there are many more there, if you want to take a look!

 

 

The secret of decorating effectively is in the details!  

As you know, I've been on a kick to clear out the clutter, having read "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up."  Once I complete the rounds of getting rid of my excess stuff, I will be doing what is called "The Realtor Walk-Through." My goal is to go through my home room by room, repairing anything that needs repaired, touching up paint, and so forth.  Of course, the 4'x4' hole in my family room ceiling is a good place to start!  Hopefully that work will be done next week.  In the meantime, one of my medium sized trees in the side yard keeled over in the wind, roots and all, Christmas Day.  Not exactly the Christmas tree we were looking for! My gardener is coming today to finish removing that. 

I don't have any big redecorating or remodeling projects in mind, but do plan to freshen things up and create little vignettes to honor the collections, flowers, and objects that bring me joy.  Here is a nice beginner's article about creating vignettes from Home and Garden TV:  Tips for Making Beautiful Vignettes.

Are you inspired, too?  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  I certainly did.  My girls were home, we attended the church Candlelight Service, moved by the beauty of singing "Silent Night" as we held candles aloft.  Then it was home to cook favorite foods and open gifts.

Don't you love this large, beautiful Christmas box?  

My sister Chris sent it to me, and look what is inside:

 

Steel blue Egyptian Cotton sheets!  It's hard to capture the true color here, but they match the leaf color in my bedroom's vintage wallpaper perfectly.  Now I'm really eager to get started!

Home Organnization - Zee Garage and Studio

While it's been great reliving my New England vacation thanks to blogger land, the majority of my past week has been spent on that home organization project. 

Thanks to Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons there is a blueprint to follow.  Check out her Blog Series called Home Organization 101.  I'm skipping around on the sequence she suggested as I needed to tackle the garage first while the weather is cooperative to an open door and hauling things out on the driveway or into the trunk for the Goodwill.  The other big area is my studio -- it has become a second storage area and is just as overwhelming as the garage.  So I'm tackling BOTH of them.  Glutton for punishment here.

Did you know that four banker boxes of paper fluffs up and E-X-P-A-N-D-S  to 10 large trash bags of shredding?  My trunk, back seat and front seat were filled to the max as I left for the county recycle center yesterday!

 

Glad that's over!  Another trunk full of old printers and miscellaneous stuff was donated to the Goodwill (second trip in the last week).  Feels so good to get all that stuff outta here!  And I am making headway -- look at the freshly polished computer desk sans stacks of file folders which were on each side of the keyboard.

Seeing a nicely organized and cleaned area is so motivating to carry on.

Three Glorious Weeks

Summer is in full bloom.  In Monterey, that means temps in the 60's and generally wonderful walking and working weather!   I spent four weeks at the beginning of summer providing summer school speech therapy.  Two of my colleagues and I job-shared two positions and ended up working half days on four day work weeks.  One of the best parts was sharing therapy ideas, materials and organizational tips, making us almost (note I said almost) look forward to starting the new school year. 

In July I flew down to Southern California for a weekend to join DAR friends at the State headquarters in order to plan for the new year.  We had a great time and they gave me the same room I had last year.  See the window under the chimney in the dormer room on the right?  That's the one!  It's a small bedroom with twin beds and a dresser, decorated with antique dolls, toys, and quilts. I can crank open the window at night and feel a cool breeze, so refreshing!  All 15 of us stay right in the headquarters -- an old Craftsman style house with many bedrooms and bathrooms and a large dining room where we can sit around the table, discuss and take notes.  At night we ate supper al fresco on the shady back patio.  For lunch we walked the two blocks to a cafe in the historic downtown.  My favorite "take five" place was that covered front porch where there is wicker furniture and soft cushions -- no one else seemed to go there so it was a nice quiet spot to be alone and think.  It was really a lovely weekend.

Now I have three glorious weeks left of summer vacation before heading back to the therapy room.  As always I have lots of projects to complete, including a top to bottom re-organizing of my house.  I tackled the kitchen earlier this week, taking every thing out of the cupboards, washing things, purging, reconfiguring spaces. Now three boxes of old mugs, vases, platters, and other such items are waiting for the Goodwill (making that trip today), one box is for my daughters' apartment, and the rest is so junky no one would want it so it's going in the trash.  Out with the old expired food, in with reorganizing the spices, meds/vitamins and food cupboards.  Even the junk drawer got an overhaul.  (Can you tell I like to organize?)

Then I decided I better venture into the garage.  Crikey!  My rule of thumb was that I needed to be able to park two cars in the garage, but when the girls moved out three years ago their car space began collecting an item here and an item there until -- yikes -- half of that space is a hodge-podge of clutter.  So much "stuff" has accumulated throughout the garage again that it's almost overwhelming to figure out where to begin.  So I decided to tackle it one section at a time, starting with the two large work benches.  Under one work bench was old paint -- some from 10 years ago!  I filled my entire trunk with old paint and pesticides and made the trek to the city hazardous waste center.  That opened up a tremendous amount of space!  Studying the work benches I realized that two shelves were filled with power tools that I will never use.  They were my husband's and if I haven't used them in ten years, I doubt I ever will -- plus some are starting to rust.  So I called my gardener and asked him if he wanted to stop by and he could have any of these tools he wanted.  He took them all, to my delight -- I love to see things go to a good home!  I stored the drill and bits in a plastic storage box, and of course kept the saws, hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, nails, etc., etc. that I do use regularly.  Work benches are done.  I reorganized the garden tools and other items in the open storage shelf section on that wall and called it a day.

I planned to dive back into the garage the next day, but the tendonitis in my left ankle has been bothering me all week and yesterday I could hardly walk on it.  Using the RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) method, I stayed off of it and did computer work for a day.  By the way, never underestimate the power of compression.  It wasn't until I wrapped my ankle with an elastic bandage that I really experienced a significant difference.  Today it is much better and I am going to gingerly move back into organizing the garage after I drop off at Goodwill and visit Target for some more good storage boxes.  I've got loads of old papers to shred, so if I need a break I can always sit down, rest my ankle, and shred away. 

This has not been a particularly fascinating post, but I do have something much more fun to report!  Toward the end of July I flew to New England for a vacation with my two sisters!  We had so much fun!  Watch for my posts about that!  

That's all for now!  Have a wonderful day!

Why I Need to Put My Laundry Away Right Away

It was just too tempting on a cold morning -- warm, folded towels, washcloths and cleaning rags, sitting in a chair, waiting to be put away.  Scarlett didn't appreciate being awoken from her nap for the picture taking as you can see from her one eye open, one eye half shut pose. 

I've been on a cleaning jag lately.  My daughters begin arriving this Thursday for in and out days up to and including Christmas, so this morning I'm sprucing up their rooms -- washing sheets and blankets, dusting and vaccuming.  Then this afternoon you'll find me back in the bonus room.

Ahh, the bonus room has been my project room way too long!  Through the years it has been a combination of the girls' play room/TV room, a home office, exercise room, scrapbooking room, and always storage room.  It has some fantastic features!  It's a room that was added on to the house, above the garage, by the previous homeowners.  You approach it via a nice stairway from the family room downstairs.  It's open, with large windows on three sides so I feel like I'm in a tree house.  It has a large walk-in closet and floor to ceiling cupboards along one wall (the fact the storage boxes still spill over into the main room is a sign I need to get rid of more stuff).  My husband's huge desk, credenza, the desk top computer and printer are the main features of one front corner.  The treadmill is in another corner. The rest of the room is up for grabs in terms of purposing.

But I have ideas!  Organizing the office area into sections for my nonprofit, volunteer projects, hobbies, and personal files is a given.  Then a hobby section where I can spread out my paper craft supplies, photos and albums, and genealogy records.  The treadmill stays and maybe that exercise corner needs enhanced with things that will inspire and make it more 'spa' like.  Do I need music there?  The entire room needs better lighting and a fresh color scheme.  There will be trips to the recycle center and Goodwill in my future.  And the room needs a new name.  I hate the name "bonus room" -- it needs to be my studio, my office, or my hobby room.  Something more definitive.

Time to get busy!

Life Organized

My heart goes out to those who have struggled to put their lives back together after Hurricane Sandy blew through.  I can't imagine losing everything as so many of them did.  We do not have hurricanes on the west coast and the weather is tame for the most part.  But we do live in earthquake country and are told that it would be wise to be prepared for a few days of survival in the event of a major earthquake.

Over the years, I have put emergency supplies together in anticipation of "the big one," but my habit of rotating water, making sure we don't dip into supplies, and updating contact info has become increasingly lax.

Recently I started following a terrific blog called abowlfulloflemons.net.  It's dedicated to home organization and I love the author's tools, tips and challenges to tackle the art of a more orderly life.  Starting December 8th she is doing an 8 week program on Emergency Preparedness.   If you want to join in, just click on the Emergency Preparedness box below and follow the instructions on her blog:

As usual, I'm a day late and a dollar short, in this case on joining in her Home Organization 101 weekly challenges.  After all, I'm still trying to finish up the telling of our summer vacation on the east coast, and I think I left off with the letter E on my Encyclopedia of Moi!  I do finish what I start -- it just takes me awhile sometimes!  So here I am on week 13 of her project, jumping in to join the current week's challenge-- the master closet!  There is only one week left and I'm hoping she starts over for those of us who missed the first round.  If not, I'll have to loop back around to week 1 on my own.

The master closet sounds rather scarey, but if I'm going to dig through it, I better do it now before it is full of Christmas gifts and wrappings this coming month.  Onward, charge!

Why, Hail, Yes!

We've had some wet and wild weather on the Central Coast this week, including several hailstorms.  I can sleep through rain, but the hail we had last night woke me up. It looks nice and calm from the webcam on Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey at the moment.  Check it out:

Live webcam on Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf

Sounds like another good day to stay in and organize my closets.  There is still clean up to do in there from Christmas chaos.  Is it quirky that I actually enjoy organizing or at least the idea of it?  Organizing books are plentiful in my house and several home organizing and decorating sites and blogs are bookmarked on my laptop.  One of my favorites is Get Organized Now!

Actually rolling up my sleeves and getting after it can be prone to procrastination.  No more!  One of my New Year's Resolutions was to stop putting things off.  It's action year so here I go!

Getting to the Bottom of Things

This weekend I'm tackling the cleaning of my "studio". It's actually been called a sundry of names including the bonus room, storage area, home office and upstairs family room, but treated as indignantly as "the catch all room." My goal is to completely empty the room and its adjoining storage closet of all boxes, bags and extra-items-in-case-we-might-need-them items. Then rearrange the furniture and create a studio for myself. My crafts include writing and photography and all associated tasks -- journals, cards, scrapbooks, colorful pens and papers....

Yes, the small TV will stay so I can catch up on news or become inspired by watching some shows. The office desk and computer will stay where I can look out the front window while I work, watching the tree boughs gently bend in the evening breeze. The bookcases with their family albums and videos will continue to stand guard over our family history.

But I can do without the boxes of clothes and toys and various other odds and ends that still need sorted through. I started this project awhile back, but you know how it goes. Armed with a bucket of Murphy's Wood Soap suds and a couple of trash bags, I've been able to condense 3-4 more boxes today and completely clear out the bookcases so they look and smell fresh and clean again.

My big find of the day helped my daughter -- it was her old backpack from Cambridge, England days with a wallet containing $90! She was thrilled with that find! And, no, I was nice and didn't play "finder's keepers, loser's weepers."