Simplify -- Bye Bye Books

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!

I'm back in the living room today, ready to tackle the other half of the room.  I set up my camera and tripod to document the process, with my back to the bookcase I decluttered and organized yesterday.

Books.

In today's world, with our smart phones and Kindles and tablets, I'm sure books aren't a big deal to declutter.  But listen--I'm a homeschooling mom.  I grew up lounging on the living room couch with throw pillows all around, absorbed in some adventure.  I read everything.  There is just something about holding a book in my hands, feeling the pages, the touch of paper against my finger as I turn a page.  You just can't replace that.  Books are something special.

Middle/upper elementary historical fiction books, soon to find a new home.

The decision.

With the help of my sister-at-heart Lori, I realized that when it comes to homeschooling, I'm really done (it still hasn't sunk in yet).  And saving everything for my grandchildren isn't worth it.

• It's not practical; how/where will I store all this stuff?
• Will I even have grandchildren?  (I sure hope so.)
• Will my grandchildren be homeschooled?
• Will homeschooling look the same as it does today?
• Will my future daughters-in-law even want the stuff?
• Would they feel forced to accept the stuff?

There were way too many variables for me to decide that keeping a ton of stuff in the hopes that all of these questions--and some I haven't even asked--would be answered positively.  I also looked at it from another perspective:

• My home would be less cluttered.
• I would be freer from stuff.
• I can keep a small number of quality books for visiting grandchildren.  Or stop at the library before they visit.
• My sons/DILs can purchase/borrow their own books.
• My DILs may already have books of their own!
• My relationship with future daughters-in-law wouldn't be burdened.

This second list is also incomplete, and much more positive in practical and tangible ways, even right now.  My mind was decided.

The process.

These books are serial sets, so it was easy to remove them from the shelves and divide them up into separate boxes.  I plan to sell these this spring, before the homeschool convention season hits and homeschooling moms are searching for materials for the next school year.

Once all the series were boxed and stacked, I took stock of the bookcase.  I decided I didn't like the look of the Bible concordances on the stop of the bookcase--they're too much competition for the border.  I moved them to the tall bookcase (behind me, the one from yesterday's project).

I took the bookends--giant hand-crafted fishing lure bookends I found in a shop in upstate New York--and moved them to the middle shelf to hold a few books I decided to keep.  That freed up some space and made the top look prettier.

The below picture is the end result of the day's work.  I ended up decluttering that canoe shelf on the right, too.  I removed the picture frames--no one can see those pictures, anyway--and put them in the Goodwill box.  I then organized the little games, mostly card games, in another basket which now sits on the bottom shelf of the canoe.

I really want to declutter the CD rack next to the canoe, but I have a husband who enjoys the CDs...  Although, you know, we never listen to them, and the CD player in our stereo system doesn't work all that well.  I wish I were tech-savvy enough to figure out how to get all the music stored digitally!  For now, everything is neat and tidy, and I'll soon have a few more dollars in my pocket from book sales.  The CDs can wait until I have some time for research and someone to help me.

Sometimes, a room doesn't have to be completely done; it just needs to be good enough for now.  That's not settling for less, or leaving it undone; it's simply acknowledging that even though I could do more, I'm content with how it looks now, I can enjoy the items that remain, and I can tackle the harder task of going deeper with decluttering when I'm ready.

This project took just a few hours, in the morning and again in the evening--as evidenced by the lamp in my pictures!


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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