Basement Clean-Up

March 28.

Our basement ends up being a catch-all for things.  Is yours like that?  I don't go down there very often, even though that's where our TV/entertainment area is located.  Isn't it crazy how we just seem to accumulate stuff; I mean, where does it all come from?!  We don't have much income at this point, and we're not purchasing much besides food, so really--how do piles and piles of stuff just appear out of nowhere??  I'm flabbergasted.

Here's my before picture.  *insert embarrassed look here*

My goal was to separate in one place all the homeschool stuff I wanted to sell, because I signed up for a homeschool curriculum resale event.  Everything else needed to be put either "in a box" (I'll deal with it later) or in the donation box.  With that, I went to work.  I love all those empty blue Rubbermaid storage boxes--it means I've gotten rid of stuff!

It's amazing when you pick up everything how much floor space there is.  You can see all the boxes of homeschool stuff  on the left; those will hopefully all be gone in a couple weeks.  Yeah, the wires hanging everywhere are ugly, but it is what it is at this point, and as the guys move on with their lives much of that will disappear.  Give it a quick vacuum, and at least we can walk around down in this basement space.

Trust me, there is still lots to do down here in this unfinished space.  But there's something to say about clean floor space, don't you think?

 Stuff to go to Goodwill.

Back to life,
Christine

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Simplify -- Master Bedroom Closet, Part One

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

Today's focus is on our master bedroom closet.  Sometimes, simplifying means making a mess first, taking everything out, then putting back only those things you do want.  Everything else needs to go.  So make it leave!

Part One, 
In Which We Remove Everything in the Closet, Then Paint and Re-Floor It.

We received an incredibly generous gift of laminate flooring from my parents.  We held on to it until we knew we would get to keep our house (read all about that here).  Once our house issue was settled, this project--in the master bedroom closet, of all places--became a symbol of hope, that we would stay, that we had a future right here.  So we forged ahead.

Not only did we receive a gift of flooring, but a gift of funds for a closet organizing system.  The Lord is exceedingly generous, isn't He?  In order for this huge project to go forward, we first had to empty our closet.  Time to declutter, people!

Here's the before picture; I have decluttered this space in the past, so it doesn't look that bad.  Notice I'm focusing the camera on my side of the closet.  Fernando's side is a bit, um, messier.

You can play Guess What's Missing? with these next two images.  Before removing everything, I decided to declutter clothing that I knew I wouldn't be keeping.  May as well get that taken care of, instead of sorting through it later.  I removed only a handful of items, maybe seven or eight things.  What you see is the extent of my wardrobe, except for some tee shirts, shorts, underthings, and workout clothes.

After the quick once-through of my clothing, everything else came out, starting with the stuff on top of the shelves.  I donated a whole bunch of stuff, and set aside some other stuff to sell.

Fernando's side--the scary side.

I hung a lot of my clothing around my bedroom, and folded the rest, which fit inside a Rubbermaid 44-quart box (below).

We splurged on a quart of paint, a beautiful brown color named Armadillo.  Huh?!

Our bedroom looked like this:

Fernando ripped out the closet carpeting and tack strips, and then he was ready to install floating laminate flooring.

My hero!  *sigh*

That's the end of Part One.  Join me soon in Part Two, where I'll show you the final result, and what our closet looks like now--can't wait!


Back to life,
Christine

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Simplify -- Living Room Bookcase

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

Hi there!  I tackled one more decluttering project in my home:  the living room.  And really, it was just one half of the living room:  the business side.  This is the north half, with windows facing the front yard, and nice bright light throughout the morning.  Our computer desk is at one side, and a bookcase graces the middle of the wall.  Just two pieces of furniture, but oh what a mess they can be!  Here's what this section of room looked like when I started:

If you're just starting to declutter, this hint will help you--start small.  I'm a natural de-clutterer, so if I decide to tackle a room, it usually doesn't overwhelm me.  But, sometimes I do feel overwhelmed, and need to focus on a small area--my project desk, maybe, or even just the silverware drawer in the kitchen.  Today, it's just half a room.  Here's the bookcase, below.

I didn't handle every item, remove it from the shelf, look at it, decide whether or not it's worthy of space in my home (all good questions to ask).  I did look over every title, every book, and decide that way.  There are things I eventually left on the bookcase for now--homeschool material, for example--which are better tackled later when I have a good chunk of time to devote to it.  I wanted to both declutter and straighten up, so that the space felt friendlier, more open and inviting, and freer, prettier.  There was a stack of paperwork to be filed, so the bulk of my time was spent in the filing drawer--that bottom pull-out which is the coolest thing--filing recent paperwork and decluttering tons of no-longer-needed or outdated paperwork.

The filing is mostly finished.

The computer desk doors can be closed for guests or entertaining, so I wasn't too worried about the actual desk at this point.  Most of my focus was the floor areas and the bookcase.  I had recently removed books (before I took picture #1, wouldn't you know) from one of the shelves, leaving room for the bookends my dad made in high school shop class.  These hold our family hymnals and music books for church.  (Second shelf from the top.)  Also, a few cookbooks and books on photography went in the giveaway pile.  I was able to give most away on Freecycle, and the rest went into a box destined for Goodwill.

My beloved Scrabble game went from the top of the bookcase to the bottom of the basement stairs, where many of our games are stored.  Soon, I hope very soon, all of our games will be housed there, for easy access to all of us and to guests.  A project for later, but not too much later.  :)

Once the bookcase was decluttered and straightened up, I decided to spend a little time on the computer desk, mostly on the cork boards attached to the insides of the doors.  Fernando wants the bills to be pinned on the left side so he doesn't forget to pay them (we have several that are not on auto-pay for various reasons).  I sorted through them, filed some that had been paid, and sorted the rest neatly.

I also went through my wicker magazine basket (between bookcase and lamp, under the clock), which holds mostly music books for flute tutoring.  I had extra magazines stored there (out they went), and a few pages ripped from an advertisement (I took pictures of those to save for master bedroom decor ideas, and uploaded them to Pinterest).

The cork board on the computer desk's right-hand door is mine, mostly photography business stuff.  I sorted through that, filed some things, and threw others out.  I input necessary stuff into documents on the computer--don't you just love storing things digitally?  No paper mess!

Above is the day's finished work.  Remember, minimalism looks different for each person or family.  Since there are six people in our household, I need to defer to them when there are things I'd like to throw out, but they want/need to keep.  For now, everything is neat and contained; I will continue to weed out unwanted books throughout the year, and work on the inside "guts" of the computer desk (Fernando is starting a business, so I expect the computer desk will be due for a makeover).  I also have to find a solution for that clip-on lamp at the top of the bookcase; I need something to light up the computer area when I'm working in darker hours.  Suggestions, anyone?

Remember, start small.  At the end of this day, I didn't want to leave anything messy.  I wanted it to be done, so that I didn't have to finish the next day.  Of course, you can stretch a project out, too, if you need to!  There are no hard and fast rules, which you'll see in my own journey as I handle different spaces in different ways.

Where in your house did you start?  Was is small or big, radical or something minor?  Don't you feel freer, lighter, and more carefree?  I know I do.


Back to life,
Christine

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Simplify -- The Master Bedroom

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

One day, I just started.  That's how I do many projects:  I sit and think about them for a long time.  Then, one day, almost on the spur of the moment, I begin.  Well, on this particular November day, I walked into our master bedroom closet, and stared at the boxes of stuff on the shelves.  I had  decided to pursue a path in my photography that did not specialize in photographing newborns exclusively; however, I had kept boxes of baby blankets, caps, bows...  I stared at those boxes, realizing I would probably never, maybe once, use those items.  And faced with the possibility of moving to a much smaller place, I knew they just had to go.  So I started making a pile piles.

I usually declutter when Fernando is out of town.  I'm not sure why, but I know that he is not a throw-er-away-er (my new word), and if I'm going to get rid of stuff, it has to be when he's not around.  Sometimes he doesn't even notice when I've cleaned out an area, unless it's particularly bad.  Plus, I work much better in quiet solitude.  So there you have it.  I was in declutter mode.

I don't have pictures of the closet, although I did declutter it a few years back.  But I had accumulated more stuff since then, and it needed decluttering.  So I did.  Since it was well organized, it was a relatively easy chore, and I was able to bring several boxes/bags of stuff to Goodwill that same day.

Feeling the freedom from that job gave me the courage to face our master bedroom.  It took me most of a month, but I got the major part done.  I also keep in mind that Fernando lives here too, and I can't touch his stuff.  There are places his stuff hides, and so it must stay hidden.  Oh--he just told me today he's ready to get rid of some of his stuff!  He's really good with ignoring it, and then all of a sudden it bugs him so he takes care of it.

Here's the view from just inside the main door to our bedroom.  Just ignore those sagging curtains on the window; if we ever do get the money, new curtains are definitely in order!

Above, standing there facing into the bedroom, I never thought I'd get to the point of being able to share pictures with you of the room where everything else ends up, the catch-all room for stuff around the house that has no place to go.

Standing directly in the room, here's our master bed--a Sleep Number bed, too!  My sweet friend Becky (and her hubby Tim) gave us the comforter and throw pillow.  The set came with shams, but we don't use them, and a bed skirt, which won't fit since the Sleep Number support piece is squeezed tightly into our existing bed frame.

In the above picture, you can also see, from left, a hanging shelf, empty since I don't collect anything but it was made by my grandfather so I'm holding off taking it down for now.  Then, there's the wall unit with the TV--yuck, but Fernando wants the TV there, so there it stays.  Then a tri-fold picture stand with photos of our boys, and the corner tall bookshelf with next to nothing on it, and a lamp on top which isn't even plugged in, lol.

This room, as you can tell, is long and narrow, and maybe one day we'll have just a TV hanging on the wall opposite the bed--I think I'd be okay with that.  For the below, I'm standing with my back to the west window in our room.  In the front corner, way back there in the center of the image, is my project desk.  I can see getting rid of it someday, since I rarely do "projects" such as scrapbooking or paper crafting.  It still needs to be decluttered, and lots of the craft supplies are ready to be sold or given away.  That's another project for the future.  My room is now peaceful, and a quiet place to lay my head at the end of a long day.

It's not done.  And a simple life is never a place you arrive at.  It is a place you maintain, and I'm not there yet.  I'm realistic enough to know I won't reach perfection, but it's a journey I'm happy to be on because I know that simple is best.  More on the bedroom soon!


Back to life,
Christine

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His Castle - Cleaning the Bomb Shelter (Again)

Want to know what His Castle posts are?  Click here!

We call this section of our basement the Bomb Shelter.  Really.  And it gets messy pretty easily.  I don't often go down to the basement for anything.  One of the guys will carry up wheat berries for grinding, or a big bag of rice so I can refill the rice jar in my real pantry.  And on co-op delivery day, it's just so easy to tell the guys to "carry it all down to the Bomb Shelter for now..."  But, after a few co-op delivery days (and they're two months apart!), the Bomb Shelter looks like this:

There's a lot going on in the image above.  The true Bomb Shelter is really consists of just those large metal shelving units in the back on the right, plus all those five-gallon white buckets you can see in the lower right corner in the front.

Fernando's work cabinets are on the left, with a large cardboard box on top, and there's a table in the center, surrounded by chairs, that the guys will often use for games when friends are over.  You can tell, though, that that table hasn't been used in a while.  Time to clean up!

Most of this day's work consisted of just putting stuff away, either in their respective storage buckets, or organized on the shelves.  Below, you can see the red, blue, and green canning jar boxes stacked neatly in the middle.  Those are my empty jars, waiting to be filled with something new!

Below are those five-gallon buckets.  The two gray-rimmed buckets are much larger, and each holds about 150 pounds of wheat berries.  One bucket was red berries, and one was white, so I mixed them and have been using them up.  We haven't said goodbye to any of our guys yet, but as I bake less and less, I don't want to be storing massive amounts of dry goods.  I'm trying to be careful with the quantities I purchase, and am conscientiously using everything that I do purchase.

That's it!  Nice and clean, just in time for co-op delivery day.  I'll blog about that really soon, since I already took pictures!


Back to life,
Christine

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Cleaning and Reorganizing the Pantry

I have been home a lot more this winter than I have been in a long while.  I don't really have cabin fever, although the bitter cold makes me feel closed in, almost as if I'm stuck here.  Which I'm not.  :)

Cold weather--I'm talking -11 without a wind chill this morning--is a great excuse to have an extra cup of tea and do something worthwhile indoors.  On this day, I undertook a major project--cleaning out and reorganizing my pantry.  Here's what it looked like when I started:

The right side.

The left side.

I wish I had a super-wide-angle lens to show you the full picture, but the space back there is just so tight I had to take two pictures.  This pantry is really a very wide coat closet in my "Plum Room."

PLuM = Pantry, Laundry, and Mud

Yes, there's mud back there sometimes.  When you're facing the coat-closet-turned-into-pantry, your back is to the door leading to the garage.  To the left of the pantry are the washer and dryer against the side wall, and on the same wall as the pantry is another door which leads to the back yard.  To the right of this pantry is an open doorway, which is a back hallway with a powder room and which leads to my kitchen.  You'll see it in another image below.

Needless to say, it's a multi-use room, and it's pretty small.  I have big dreams for the pantry:  I'd first rip out the coat closet doors and the wire shelving.  Oh, and the metal shelving units will go, way out of here probably to the garage where my husband can put them to good use with his man stuff.  Then I'd install real cabinets, even a countertop area, plus a space in there for my vacuum which currently sits against a tiny space of wall next to the left door (ugh).  But that's a thousand-dollar dream (probably more), and I doubt I'll ever have that.  So metal shelving units it is.  But that doesn't mean I can't organize it and make it look pretty.  :)

Above and below--everything came off the shelves, and I organized it sort-of in the hallway.  I have jars of grains, beans, and other stuff, and they're stored three-deep on the shelves, so I definitely had to keep those together.  I somewhat alphabetized them, hoping to put them back in a way that made more sense.

The above shelf got wiped down in a major way--you can probably see the dust and food particles all over.  All the items from the shelves are below, arranged in my hallway (that's the kitchen, then family room beyond).

Rule of Organizing:  It gets messier before it gets neater.

Finally, what I think is the most exciting, invigorating part--getting everything back on the shelves!  Woo-hoo!!  (I actually get goosebumps for this part.)

Next to some of the dry jar goods are small appliances I have no space for in my kitchen:  a toaster oven, a large crock pot.  That empty space above is for my Bosch mixer, which was in the kitchen at the time awaiting a bread-making session (that didn't happen for another week).

See the lovely green tuna boxes?  They stick out from the shelves, but that's a good thing since the jars barely sit three-deep anyway, and it gives me more room to store stuff.  They sit on the shelf nicely, and I can organize smaller jars--bottles of ketchup, mustard, vinegars, etc.--without having them slide all over the metal shelves.  The boxes keep them nicely organized.  I got these boxes at Costco.  I'm even bold enough to go down the aisle where the tuna is, and empty out the 12-packs of tuna to get another box (or two).  No one has ever said anything.  You should try it; I always feel like a criminal but I do it anyway.  ;)

Nice and neat!  You may think this post is done, but I wasn't happy with green tuna boxes (and cut-out oatmeal boxes, one of which you can see on the top shelf above).  Today's post shows you what I did to clean and organize my pantry; my next post will show you what I did to make my pantry look pretty.  Yes, it involves a craft.  But if it's easy enough for me, I guarantee you you can do it, too!


Back to life,
Christine

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Cleaning the Back Yard, Part Two

To see my back yard at its worst, click here.  :)

I'm not afraid to post before pictures.  I mean, we're all so used to seeing gorgeous images of neat and tidy spaces, both indoors and out.  However, we all have those nasty places we don't want people to see.  Oh, c'mon, am I the only one?  I'm not the best house cleaner, and the yard--well, that suffers even more!  I can barely remember to remind the guys to mow and weed-whack.  When Fernando starts to make a stink, I know it's time to get on the guys to do it.

Anyway, this particular post picks up midway through the cleaning process.  Here's the progress at the end of the last pick-up session:

Looks pretty good, huh?  Well, along that back fence are random piles of wood that haven't been moved to the new, official woodpile yet.  So, that's what my guys were doing below:

Now, I have to be honest with you.  We created this stack of wood during the last clean-up day, and today, we had to do things a bit backwards.  You see, once we got to the bottom of the old pile along the other fence side, we discovered (and remembered) railroad ties that were keeping the wood from rotting right into the ground and soil.  So the project became--move the new woodpile wood out of the way, move the railroad ties to the new location, then replace all the wood on top of the railroad ties.  Not the best planning, but it wasn't a super-huge project and the guys got it done.

Below you can see the railroad ties along the bottom of the pile.

We placed huge logs at the end of the stacks, and we plan to cut them once we get hold of an axe or something.  My dad has something we can use...

Thomas and Danny work on the stack.

You can see all the mess and random wood piles along the fence on the right.

Danny worked on picking all the wood up, then weeding as much as he could.

Now it's looking pretty good!

Below, all the wood is stacked, all neat and tidy and ready for this winter and our fireplace!

But, the project is not done.  This (below) is the very back corner (see, I'm still not embarrassed!), and stacked back there are the leftover boards from our hardwood flooring project.  We had reclaimed the hardwood from the church behind our house when they demolished their very old building and built a new one to its side.  This remainder is piled every which way, and awaits sawing and stacking.  Our problem lies with the sawing part.

My Dad, the fabulous man that he is, has a power saw of some sort (don't ask me what kind), and we'll probably have him bring it over to get the rest of this section of yard all spruced up.  But that's a project for another day!


Back to life,
Christine

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