The weather here has been dull and gray all weekend. It doesn’t really make me want to fling open the windows and spring clean. However, it’s not nice enough to go outside and work, so I really have no excuse to not get started if I am going to stay inside.
I decided earlier in the week on some areas that would give me “easy wins” in the decluttering department: my make-up basket, my sewing desk, and a tool shelf currently located in our dining room / library. I tackled the make-up basket in ten minutes one night this past week, just throwing out old make-up, stuff I never use, etc. I only wear a tiny bit of make-up, so there was really no point in having four eyeshadow palettes! First win!
Yesterday morning, I was curled up on the sofa re-reading Cait Flanders “The Year of Less” (highly recommend). Something she wrote inspired me to put down her book and tackle my sewing desk upstairs. There is so much junk on it, that I couldn’t sit down to sew if I wanted to! I traipsed upstairs with two garbage bags, one for garbage, one for donations. There was a lot of fabric that had fallen next to the window and was completely faded – this went in the trash. Stacks of fabric and batting from projects that I am no longer interested in went in the donate bag. I saved a few finished quilt blocks that were meant for a bed quilt, and I think I will join them together to make a lap quilt instead. Second win!
While I was in the sewing / music / junk room, I also became motivated to tackle some of the other items in there. The dehumidifier that works, but that we don’t use anymore. The air conditioner that we bought when our air went out two years ago. Five(!) bags of stuffed animals that my daughter no longer is interested in. Bed sheets with princesses, Hannah Monatana, and Hello Kitty on them (my daughter is now 16, so … OK she is still into Hello Kitty). I drug all these downstairs into the living room. My daughter and I went through the stuffed animals, and will keep one bag, which I will pack away, and donte the rest to the Holiday Bureau in East Tennessee. Everything else will go to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or the Arc of Davidson County. I went through my wardrobe and added a few things as well. Extra win!
I am still washing donation clothes and bed sheets today, so I decided to take care of the tool shelf in the dining room. I won’t even go into why there is a tool shelf in the dining room. I’ll only say that it is left over from the Great Coat Closet Remodel Project. I found homes for all the remaining items, cleaned the shelf, and took it apart. The shelf will go up in the attic for extra storage there. As I am typing, my Roomba is happily cleaning the horribly dirty floor that was under the shelf, and then I will mop and polish it. Third win!
The funny thing is that I actually didn’t expend much effort to get a BUNCH of stuff out of my house (OK, it’s not out of my house yet, but will be by the end of the week). I was pretty ruthless, but can honestly say that nothing that will be heading out the door means anything to me any more. I managed to gain quite a bit of space back with two meager mornings of work. So three little wins turned into one BIG win!