Day 7, Bedroom - Part 1

Ugh.  I feel like I got nothing done in here today!  Now I did get a WHOLE bunch of laundry done and put away, educated the children, fixed 3 meals, did next week's school prep, and a host of other things.  But not a lot got done on the Project.  So here's what I DID do.  A little background info - my desk sits next to my nightstand.  I have a fab desk chair that rocks and reclines and is super comfy, which is important because I spend a lot of time in it.  Unfortunately, it takes up a whole lot of space on my already-space-limited side of the bed.  Because of the chair arms, you can't push it under the desk.

So a while back I bought a new desk chair.  It's been cluttering up the hallway for quite some time.  Today I decided to put it together and try it out.  I opened the box and found all the parts to the chair (hallelujah) as well as an assortment of toys, jewelry and other junk that small people around here apparently have been tossing in there on their way down the hall!  Anyway, here's what it looked like with the new chair:

Lots more space!  The only problem is, I don't like it.  I sat in it for awhile and it's a nice chair, good back support and great for sitting at the desk writing or typing.  But it doesn't recline!  It's not comfy!  How can I kick back and watch Netflix on my computer if I can't kick back???  So, I decided to compromise.

That's right, I'm keeping them both.  Someday when this decluttering is done, I hope to switch to a smaller desk which will take up less space on my side of the room.  When that happens, I'll make a decision.  For now, this works because the kids love to sit at the desk with me or sit together when they have their computer time. 

I also turned this...

into 3 full bags of laundry to take to the laundry room.  Pictures of that area will come once it's completely decluttered.  Stay tuned!

Day 6, Under the Bed

I was supposed to wait for my husband to help me with this project, because I felt that the only way to do it properly was to completely remove the mattress and box spring.  Well he wasn't home today, but it was next on my list, so I just jumped in and did it!  After moving the bed off the frame, here's what I found:

List of contents?  Let's see, shoes, books, pillows, dust pan, fire escape ladder, toys, underbed boxes w/sheets & blankets and box of stuff belonging to my oldest child (age 20).

Ok, so I went through the underbed boxes.  Turns out 95% of what was in there either doesn't fit our new bed or belongs in the kids rooms.  So I reorganized the boxes and put in them only what belonged:

Ha!  The only thing in there now is a few random pillowcases, one throw-size quilt and our 2 new pillow shams that I need to buy pillows for.  Woo hoo!  Now as I catch up on the laundry, we have storage for our clean sheets and blankets.  You may be wondering why we keep our linens under the bed?  Well, our house was not blessed with many closets.  No linen closet.  No bathroom closet.  You saw the size of the bedroom closet yesterday.  Our daughter's tiny room has no closet at all!  So, this is what works for us.  Or is going to work now that it's all cleaned out and organized!

Here's the after shot of the first picture I posted.  I tried to vacuum but my Shark stick vac doesn't work so great on carpet and the real vacuum was in the closet which was barricaded by the box spring!  Oops.  And another shot:

Complete with half a cute baby in the picture!  This picture makes the carpet look terrible, but it really is a nice dark green.  I think there were spots on the camera lens.  After this, I put the bed back together, fixed it all nice (except our quilt is in the wash) and put the underbed boxes and nothing else under the bed.

Ewww, the rest of the carpet needs vacuumed, but I'll take care of that once I finish the rest of the room, hopefully in the next few days.  Now to figure out what to do with the rest of the stuff I pulled out from under the bed...

Day 5, Master Bedroom Closet

I decided to tackle the master bedroom closet for a very selfish reason - it's small and I figured it wouldn't take long to finish!  This closet is my wonderful husband's closet.  He is the only family member who utilizes a closet, as everyone else's clothes are in the Family Closet/Laundry Room.  One reason he will not get on board with the Family Closet is that the laundry room is open to the kitchen, and he doesn't want to get dressed in there.  (Doesn't stop me!)  I think he just has the traditional notion that his clothes belong in his bedroom closet and that's that.  But for me, it means he does his own laundry, separately.  So no, I'm not complaining!  And don't worry, there's a Family Closet post coming in the future - I'm just nowhere near there yet.

My master plan is to start in my personal space (my side of the bedroom) and work my way through the bedroom, down the hall, down the stairs to the living room, dining room, kitchen and laundry room.  After that, I'll come back up and work on the 3rd floor (music/exercise/guest room), children's bedrooms, and finally, the dungeon basement (oldest son's room/school room).  When the weather breaks, the backyard and front porch will get thrown on the schedule too.

So, back to the closet.  Here's the before:



AFTER: First time this door
has been closed in years



AFTER: I organized hubby's t-shirts, sweats/pajama pants, and shorts amongst the wire dividers on the top shelf.  I pulled out about 50 empty hangers, half of them baby- and kid-sized hangers.  I organized his clothing, summer on the left and winter on the right.  I hung his belts, ties and bathrobe on the hook on the door.  I put the vacuum in here because this is the only room with carpet and the vacuum had been previously cluttering up the hallway.  I also keep my gift wrap and gift wrap accessories in here because this is where I wrap gifts.  The only other thing that went back in the closet was hubby's slippers.

NOW, lest anyone get jealous and think, "WOW, she's really got it together!  Who has time to organize everyday?" or feel inferior in anyway, let me nip that in the bud right now.  Here's what the rest of the bedroom looks like:

This is the box of junk I pulled out of the
closet and need to go through, ugh.

This is hubby's side of the room piled high
with laundry and Lord knows what

And this is the spot in front of my
dresser where I put all the stuff I
move when I declutter

Yes, this is desperation, folks.  This is pretty much what my house looks like in any given room on any given day.  And unfortunately, it has to get worse before it can get better!  But I am willing to persevere and work one step at a time, baby steps, to get this house in order, once and for all.  And when that happens, to God be the glory.