Sunday Synopsis: William Morris Project - Days 14 through 20

This is a Sunday Synopsis for the projects I have completed in the third week of the 31-day William Morris Project Challenge. 

This week I re-learned something about Sweetie ... she does NOT like change. She is very appreciative of me purging and straightening, but has expressed on more than one occasion in the last seven days that she could easily do without my "organizing". Even in chaos and disarray, she knows where things live. So do I, but it doesn't mean I enjoy them living there. Ask me where the nail clippers are and I'll tell you that they are next to the ceramic bowl on the credenza (even though it makes sense that they live in the bathroom). I also used to know that the printer paper and envelopes would be in the bottom cabinet of the china hutch, under the box of electronics. Did it make sense to be there? No, not really. But we both knew it was there so why move it? Well, because I'm organizing, that's why. *smirk*

This month, I've changed my mindset from "why mess with what works?" to "could this work better another way?" Sweetie is not impressed. 

We made some compromises and came to some agreements. Sometimes it's very difficult for two people that are vastly different to find a common ground to live peacefully. It's somewhat humorous to me that after 11 years we still butt heads over stuff because we each live in our own worlds of what we feel is acceptable and forget that the other person is the complete opposite. It gives us plenty of practice for compassionate listening, patience, and compromise. 

Well, on to the summary of what was accomplished these last seven days:

Day 14: Purge & organize junk drawer in china hutch

Before

After

Crafts, electronics, cables, empty boxes, and office supplies. This drawer had it all and more. Most of what it had didn't need to be there. Most of it could be thrown away or moved elsewhere. Look at the "after" picture - see that basket in the top left? There are about 20 seed packets in there. I had no idea they even existed. Now they are in a basket and visible for when I start planting next season. Batteries are in a basket with the flashlights - front and center - and obvious. I actually re-took the "after" picture because when I purged the lower cabinets on Day 15, I moved the the greeting cards, envelopes, paper, and labels to the top.

Day 15: Purge and organize lower cabinets in china hutch

Before

After

The cooler bag belonged to my parents. The yogurt containers got moved to the "party" drawer for when the kids need snack cups or craft cups. The Adidas shoe box held all the electronic stuff and that was transferred to the clear container I picked up at the dollar store. The "Cell Phone" box got tossed. I had gotten rid of its contents during the electronics recycling purge and we no longer need it. The huge empty space on the left will be used for my "bill bag" - which will eventually be converted to a "bill box" when I can purchase a tote of some sort that will hold the contents securely. The top shelf is empty for now but there are enough spots left in the house that it will likely hold something by the end of the month!

Day 16: Purge summer clothes

All from summer closet

All to donate from summer closet

We have so many T-shirts! The honest truth is that we wear them. I wear them under my button-ups on chillier days and they are our go-to for non-job wear. I still had a few large T-shirts from when I wore that size last year. Jules recently had a great take on holding out-sized clothing:

"If I kept the small sweaters when I was too big, did I have to keep the large sweaters when I was too small? It seemed that no matter my weight, keeping clothing that didn't represent my current size celebrated a failure from the past or yet to come."

- Jules (Pancakes & French Fries)

It's really hard for me to separate with some of the shirts I've held on to. I gave away quite a few of the large shirts from last year when some friends lost theirs in a fire. The few I kept were designs that I really liked. Then there's that nagging voice reminding me that I consistently thumb past those cool designs because they hang off of me sloppily now. I won't wear them. Finally I came to the conclusion that if Sweetie didn't want them for herself, I got rid of them.

Day 17: Purge winter clothes

All from winter closet

All to donate from winter closet

We have half the amount of winter clothes as we had summer clothes. We need to go shopping at a consignment store or Goodwill and restock. We've both gone down sizes since last winter and we don't share the same sense of style so hand-me-downs are a no-go. We both only have a few nice shirts that fit. We both have about 5 long-sleeved T-shirts. The rest are all sweaters which are really only suitable for the very cold days.

Day 18: Purge and relocate "bill bag"

"Bill Bag" in dining room corner

"Bill Bag" thinned out and relocated

I keep our bills and important receipts in one of those reusable fabric bags that we got at at some event for free. I started out using a large manilla envelope for each month in the year but that got messy really fast, and it didn't really make much sense when I was trying to compare utility bills across months. Then I used a 3-ring binder filled with empty page protectors. I filled the page protectors with like-bills (water, lights, house repairs, car maintenance & repairs, etc). In the advent of online statements and bill retrievals, I have stopped saving most bills past a few months old. I often forget to purge out the old ones until I have a reason to look for something so the "new" bills & receipts would pile up around the binder. The bag was a good option at the time of containing the mess that I inevitably created over and over again. I don't suspect the problem of keeping it purged every month is going to get solved any time soon. However, eventually the "Bill Bag" will have a more permanent and secure holding place, like a plastic file tote or multiple 3-ring binders with page protectors. Maybe I could have a tray for the stuff that needs to go into the binder/box in addition to the file system. That will be another project for another time.

Day 19: Planted garlic

Sweetie digging in

Sweetie planting one of the elephant garlic cloves

Sweetie felt motivated to plant the garlic which I'd been putting off since mid-September. She had also recently found a bulb of elephant garlic at the local organic store so we're going to plant some of that this season - which is pretty exciting! When she was finished, we had 28 cloves planted - 4 of which were elephant variety. We use about 2 bulbs a month so if they all produce (last year we lost 2) we should be able to get through a year without buying garlic!

ONE clove from an elephant garlic bulb

Day 20: Cleaned out gutters and downspouts

Before

After

Our yard has a LOT of trees. It was one of my "must have" features when we were looking at houses. It did not occur to me how much work trees created in the fall - but even now that I've learned this lesson, I'd still want all the trees. They're just so beautiful!

I clear the gutters of leaves 2-3 times a year. Once when they've started falling. Another before winter if I can get up there before it's not safe to. And a final time in spring to clear the whirlygigs and such.

Climbing ladders (up or down) terrifies me. If there was a tree close enough, I'd much rather climb through the branches and hop onto the roof. It's not heights that I'm scared of, just the ladder. It's not a fear I can explain, but it's there and it's real. Sweetie holds the ladder for me and I'm sure she can attest to the wobbling I create. Once I'm up there though, I'm good. I know quite a few people that clean their gutters by standing on the ladder and climbing up & down, moving along the house that way. I couldn't imagine it. I am much more comfortable sitting on the roof, thank you very much.

It's a long way down!

Me getting the leaves out

Sweetie waiting for the end of the hose I'm feeding through

The "birds-eye" view always amazes me!

Beautiful fall trees - from above

More beautiful fall trees - from above

I slacked this week. It's evident but I'm okay with it. There is plenty to do and plenty of time to get it done. There are not many October days left but there are plenty more days after that. Winter will be here soon and I'm sure I'll get cabin fever at some point, which is when I will get the motivation to do some of those projects that we never have the motivation to start.

Twenty days down. Eleven to go!

Sunday Synopsis: William Morris Project - Days 7 through 13

This is a Sunday Synopsis for the projects I have completed in the second week of the 31-day William Morris Project Challenge. 

This week I've noticed I am sometimes only partially organizing. This is mostly because I don't have very many defined spaces yet so I just don't know what to do with some things. Jules has reiterated over the course of this year's 31-day challenge that the William Morris Project is definitely an ongoing thing. I can see how some parts of these places I'm purging and organizing will be easier to sort out once I have defined and organized spaces. Right now, everything is so overwhelming I'm giving myself a pat on the back just for doing anything at all!

Well, on to the summary of what I accomplished these last seven days:

Day 7: Move manuals from kitchen drawer to a binder

Before

After

Eventually this drawer will get even more organized. I'd like to get a containers for the molds & the cutters. This drawer should probably be revisited at some point (maybe next year) because there are some odds & ends behind what's visible. It's mostly replacement parts for things around the house that were left by the previous owner. I don't want to lose them but they don't really belong in this drawer either.

Day 8: Purge and organize piano in Max's Room

Before

After What looks like a pair of jeans on the bench is actually the ukulele case I made which also holds some ukulele chords & songs

There are a few places in our house that I am embarrassed for company to see. This is one of them. The piano and other instruments live in the catch-all room. Our dog Max sleeps in here, we store off-season clothes in here, there's a shelving unit which holds pantry items, a household maintenance basket, a sewing supplies tote, and fabric bundles. There is a corner (not in view of these pictures) which is quite the eyesore. This room is always closed off when people come over. It is not child-proof and it's in such disarray that it makes me feel like a slob. I become overwhelmed whenever I enter so I decided to break the room into little subsections. I started with the piano, which obviously doesn't get used.

The bench is stuffed to the brim with music and piano lesson books, most of which could be given away to someone at a more beginner level. I need to talk with my sister to see if she still thinks she'll want the piano when she finds a house. Her son would be able to use the beginner books if she ends up taking the piano back.

I had originally thought I wanted the top cleared off completely, but in the end I decided I liked the idea of all the instruments in a group. Everything but the art basket will get moved once I get shelving up on the wall. The art basket might also eventually move to a different location but for now this is where it makes sense to be.

Day 9: Purge and organize the linen closet.

Before

After

Groups (and Charlie getting ready to inspect the empty shelves!)

Stuff to give away

Before

After

This task took much more time than I expected it to. I was overwhelmed every step if the way but kept at it and finally, after 3 hours, it was finally finished!
We don't have cabinet space in the bathroom so the closet has a lot going on. What I decided to do was group like items together. The medicines took the longest. Most of the pill packets had long since lost their accompanying package so Sweetie was googling ingredients and I was labeling baggies. All pill-form medicines we were getting rid of got tossed in a big baggie. I will take that to work with me and put spent coffee grounds in with them before tossing in the trash.

Day 10: Purge and organize shelving unit in Max's Room.

Gash from box cutter

My first rosary

Purging the tool box was more dangerous than it needed to be! Actually, that gash had little to do with the actual purging process. I came across a cordless drill charging base which had a split cord. I decided I would try to mend it up by matching the wires and wrapping in electrical tape. There was a box cutter in the bin so I used that to cut the electrical tape. On the final tape cut, I cut my finger which I hadn't realized was hiding behind the strip I was cutting. The sad ending to that story is that the charging base still didn't work, so my cord mending efforts proved futile.

After I finished going through the upstairs maintenance bin, I started on my hobby bin. Within the contents, I found my first rosary! I have no idea how it ended up in there, or how I managed to keep it as long as I have. I put it back in the same box I found it in even though it doesn't really fit in that box's purpose. I figured it had lasted this long that way, why mess with a good thing?

Before	After
My hobby bin	Upstairs maintenance bin

Sweetie said, "I won't touch your hobby bin. You don't touch my sewing shelf." Fair enough, she's done a pretty good job of keeping it organized anyway so there wasn't anything I could have done there anyway. The upstairs maintenance bin theoretically holds tools we use often for maintenance type projects in the living areas. The majority of tools are kept in the garage or in the basement. Inevitably though, we bring up a tool from the basement that we need for some random rare project and it ends up in the bin because we don't want to take it back downstairs. This bin and the top shelf (pantry items) will need to be monitored on a regular basis. I should probably add it to a quarterly list or something. I probably won't, but I should.

There are only two more corners and a closet to tend to in this room!

Day 11, 12, & 13: The garage - dun dun duuuuun!

Before (sun shining!)

After (night has set in)

Well, I'd been waiting for a weekend when we weren't busy, the temps were warm and the sun was shining. Sunday was all of that. I got home from church around 2 and all I wanted was a nap. Unfortunately, I took that nap. I didn't start on the garage until about 4:30p. The sun sets around 7p now. I was rushing around 7:30 to get everything back into the garage before it was too dark to see well. There is a sizeable pile of crap on the driveway which we will get removed tomorrow. If we have to pay to get it hauled off, we may as well get some more stuff out there from the basement!

Inner wall - Before

Inner wall - After

If I had broken the garage into three separate tasks as I had planned, this might not have been so overwhelming. In hindsight, I'm not sure it would have worked out as well done in sections anyway so it all panned out for the best.

The inner wall is mostly cabinet space. There was a hay bale which I moved to the shed. There were home tools, gardening tools, empty containers, and carpet remnants. This was by far the dirtiest side because of the carpet, hay, and potting soil. I organized the inside of the cabinets while I was at it but I didn't photograph their progress. They weren't too terrible to begin with.

Outer wall - before	Outer wall - after
Outer wall - before	Outer wall - after

The three cubby towers along the outer wall were there when we moved in. They were so handy at holding random tools as we were getting the place up to snuff that we left them. Now we've gotten to the point where most of the tools we need to use around the living quarters can fit in the basket in Max's room. I decided to purge the cubbies of their contents and move the towers downstairs to help organize the unfinished side. When I moved them away from the wall though, I found extensive water damage and they were constructed of pressboard so out to the driveway they went! I kept the shortest one which had the least amount of damage and still proved useful.

We're so excited that one of us will be able to park in the garage if necessary this winter! I'm looking forward to being able to clean out my car even if we're experiencing crappy weather (which for some reason is always when I want to tackle that issue!)

Thirteen days down. Eighteen to go!

Sunday Synopsis: William Morris Project - Days 1 through 6!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I will be posting about the William Morris Project on Sundays to give a run-down of what was completed that week prior. 

There were a few days this week that the temps dropped below 40 degrees. We hadn't turned on our heat yet, and when we did we only set it to 60 because it was supposed to warm up again and the cool house felt nice. Well, it felt nice to be snuggled up under throws on the couch. It did not feel so nice to be up and moving around. So I fell behind and played catch-up on Sunday. I'm really glad I didn't give up. 

The quick & easy projects are quickly disappearing and soon all I'll have left are the ones that require some serious motivation. There are still some that can be handled quickly, but they're just the kind of projects that overwhelm me before I begin. That will be a hurdle I will have to get over.

I'm really happy to be doing this, and very grateful to Jules over at Pancakes & French Fries for inspiring me by sharing her 31-day project last year! 

Well, on to the summary of what I accomplished these last six days:

Day 1: Purge table under window in living room

Before

After

The table under the window tends to be a catch for things we need to stack just before company arrives. There was a car charger for a phone that neither of us have had since May. There was a small pair of binoculars, a laptop battery, and a set of earphones that belong with an mp3 player. There were multiple spiral bound notebooks, which I relocated to the bookcase. My sketch pad and drawing pencil were in there, which I relocated to the "art basket" in another room. When my laptop was able to move with me, I used the digi-doodle pad in the living room; but since my laptop is now stationary I went ahead and moved that as well. There wasn't much left when I was finished relocating. I gave the table a quick wipe down with Orange Oil and asked Sweetie if there was anything she would like to have accessible on this table. The only thing she wanted was the 10-key attachment for her laptop. The only things I wanted were a spiral bound notebook and the 3D Pin Art tray and Etch-A-Sketch (which I couldn't find). I won't be putting anything on its top because that's where the cat sits.

The contents were mostly spiral notebooks, electronics, and magazines

I can never resist planting my face into one of these!

Day 2: Purge & Organize Nightstand on my side of the bed

Before

Before

Sweetie requested that I not touch her nightstand so I just did mine. This worked out well because I only had about 15 minutes of "leftover" time for the day and a quick project was exactly what I wanted.

THREE bottles of Tums, LOL! I get heartburn as soon as I lay down for bed quite often, so I always keep a bottle in the drawer. Apparently when it empties, rather than toss it in the trash can - which is right there - I kept putting it back in the drawer. ??? 

The only stuff on/in my nightstand that actually belonged there were the alarm clocks, a case for my glasses, a bottle of Tums, a book, and a pen.

After

After

Day 3: Purge & Organize the entryway closet

Before

After Sweetie's on the right, mine on the left Sweetie's winter accessories in the basket My winter accessories in a bag

I came away with a huge box of stuff to donate from this purge! I'm sure the cold weather outerwear will be very appreciated by someone. I don't want to donate that sort of stuff to Goodwill because I feel like the people who really need it won't be able to get it from there. I need to find some place that has a free closet for the homeless to access. Other than outerwear, we got rid of a ton of ball caps, visors, reusable bags, a few backpacks and a pair of water shoes.

During

Day 4: Gathered items for electronics recycling event.

The pile

A highschool in a nearby city was doing an electronics recycling event. The gray tub n front had a bunch of little stuff (radio with missing cord, keyboard, mouse, broken vcr, cell phones, and a Palm Pilot - does anyone even remember what a Palm Pilot is? LOL). The weird looking thing behind the gray tub is a screen from a console television. Sweetie had me disassemble a console so she could make a dog bed out of it. The electronics recycling center charges 40 cents a pound for televisions so I was putting off the expense. This sucker was heavy. The event was charging a flat rate of $15 which I decided was worth pulling from savings to pay for!

Day 5: Purged under kitchen sink

Before

After Commonly used bottles in the pink tub Laid plastic under the "leak-able" stuff.

What a mess! Some of the bottles in that pink tub were put there by my mother when she had come to help clean right after we bought the house in January 2010! There were a bunch of duplicate cleaning products, as well as products for cleaning tools we no longer owned. There were things that made more sense to go somewhere else. When I finished it was still more cluttered than I'd like, but I really didn't want to toss the cleaning products that we can use. So once I'm out of the homemade solutions, I'll start using those again until their gone.

Day 6: Purged under bathroom sink

Before

After Cleaning supplies on the right Dog supplies on the left

The bathroom sink went much faster than the kitchen sink. Most of the stuff got moved to the linen closet - which will be dealt with another day. We make our own "wrinkle release" spray out of diluted fabric softener, but I don't think I really need to keep the entire bottle under the sink. As with the kitchen, there were a lot of duplicate cleaning products. The hidden liquid plumber would have come in handy a few months ago when we resorted to making volcanoes in the drains and fishing the debris out with old toothbrushes. Ew. 

Six days down. Twenty-five to go!