Monday Decluttering Challenge

July 26, 2010

larsinnh 365 Days of Decluttering, organizing 1 Comment

I haven’t talked about this in a while, but has anybody been working on decluttering this summer?  I talked about this in prior posts, about how I did a “Declutter 365 items in 365 days challenge.”  Here is a link about the “rules” I used in my decluttering challenge.

I recently bought this three drawer plastic container to organize the contents under our downstairs sink.  I’m still working on it, but I will post photos when I finish.

I recently put an ad on the web site Clean Mama.   Check out her site; she writes about decluttering, green cleaning, gardening, cooking, etc.  Great site!

In the meantime, here is a list of more things I decluttered during my challenge that we do not miss:
- 2 paper back books I won’t read again
- 2 medicine bottles
- 1 watch (sold)
- 1 set of earrings (sold)
- 7 empty jewelry boxes
- misc old business stuff (4 items)
- 7 boxes
- 1 fan that broke
- 2 A/Cs (Handy Man sold them to people at work)
- 2 old plastic trash cans we aren’t using anymore (recycled)
- 6 t-shirts that Handy Man doesn’t wear anymore
- 5 rubbermaid lids (recycled, don’t ask why I had just the lids)
- 4 t-shirts from Handy Man

It’s pretty funny to look at this list now…and wonder why we were keeping some of this stuff around.

Organized Printer Stand

July 23, 2010

larsinnh before & after, organizing 1 Comment

We had an ancient printer that we finally got rid of this year.  We found someone to pass it along to, so it didn’t get thrown out.  It still has a little bit of life left in it.

Handy Man found this new printer on a great sale at Staples several months ago.  I told him that I thought it was too “ginormous”, but it does everything we need.   One of the biggest benefits was that Rob could set it up so both of our computers could print from it.  We had a printer stand for the old printer, but it wasn’t big enough for this new printer.

Rob was going to buy some wood to make us a customized printer stand…but sadly, the wood to make one cost more than just buying a stand, and I admit, I got a little impatient.  We looked around and found this stand at an unfinished furniture store.

Here is the link that shows how Rob refinished the printer stand himself.

I finally got around to organizing the space under the printer.  Its a nice wide space, so I dug out our record albums (yes, we still have some old records), and put them there.  I also bought three brown cardboard magazine holders at Walmart.  We had looked in different stores for magazine holders, but I liked these simple cardboard ones the most.

Besides, these were $6 each, and I didn’t feel like buying magazine holders that cost $20 each!  I used them to organize some of our office supplies.

Ahhh…now we have a place to put those old Whitesnake and Simon and Garfunkel albums…

Scrapbook Paper Organizing

July 15, 2010

larsinnh crafty stuff, organizing 3 Comments

I decided that I really needed to go through my scrapbook paper in order to be more productive for my upcoming scrap projects.  I just had too many papers that I wasn’t using.  Sometimes, when I went to look for a color, I’d see the same old papers staring out at me that I’ve had for years.  I kept passing those colors and patterns by.  For some reason it finally dawned on me (!!) that I should just take out the papers I am never going to use.

After taking out papers I won’t use, I freed up almost 1/4 of my paper storage!  Wheeeee!

I used to be a Creative Memories scrapbook consultant, so these large plastic envelopes and the large black bin are from CM.  They are discontinued items now, but you can find similar systems in scrapbook stores, or online.

These clear folders have two pockets; I store whole sheets in the back pocket and scraps in the front pocket.

I also dug out our Brother P-touch label maker and labeled the tabs in a better way.  I separated solids and prints.  I have a folder for “Reds” and one for “Red Prints”, and so on.  I also have folders in the back for large ABC/123 stickers.

Ahhhh…maybe this means I can work on some pages now!  I have been wanting to scrap so badly, but I knew that I had to go through my paper first, since it was such a mess.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a “before” photo, but the black container was STUFFED full of paper, and it was getting very hard to add or remove paper.

As for the paper I removed: I saved some pieces for Handy Boy to play with, and I made a large stack to donate to a friend who has a scrapbook ministry.

Crafters (especially scrapbookers): do you need to clean out any crafty items, so you can move along with a project?

School’s Out!

June 25, 2010

larsinnh kid stuff, organizing 1 Comment

Handy Boy brought home a big pile of school papers, notebooks, workbooks and art projects this week.

I just realized, this isn’t even the whole pile! I’ve gone through some of it already. Several papers are repetitive and can be recycled. Some papers will be saved for his school year scrapbook. During the school year, I put the papers I want to save in an accordion-type file; and go through it again at the end of the year. This is the final sort that I do to determine what I’ll save or toss.

Since I scrapbook, I put some papers (and his report cards) into the album. There are other items that I save in a large manilla envelope and label “3rd Grade.” I then put the large envelope into a canvas box I bought at Target:

This way, I don’t feel like I’m overrun with school papers, even though there are several that I want to keep.

One more tip: if your child has a large art project that is difficult to store, take a photo of it and keep the photo.  I don’t toss all of Handy Boy’s bulky art projects, but I just can’t keep them all, either.

Do you have any children’s school papers to deal with?  How do you handle it?

Declutter Challenge for a Monday

June 21, 2010

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Rob decided that he would go through all of the manuals that we have for tools and appliances and organize them.  He tossed instructions for things we no longer own, and also tossed the extra packaging that the manuals came in.

Then he put the manuals into this plastic box that we already had for storage.

I asked Handy Man if he can find most of this information on the internet. He says that he probably can, but he says that sometimes he just prefers a paper manual.

Do you have any manuals for tools or appliances? Do you keep them, or toss them?

Declutter Challenge for a Monday: Plastic Containers

May 24, 2010

larsinnh kitchen, organizing 2 Comments

I decided it was time to clean out my plastic containers.  Some of them were old, old, old and not sealing very well.  We did some research and settled on a set of Rubbermaid Premier containers.  These can be purchased at Target.  I love them!  We bought a set of 20 and purchased a few extra large pieces separately.  These pieces are very sturdy, they resist stains and odors, and seal very well.

No, I’m not being paid to talk about this, I just love these!

I decided to clean out this cabinet and put my new containers here.  I love how they nest for easy storage.  My old containers didn’t nest very well, and would spill all over the place.  I’m still working on the two shelves above this.

Do you have a cabinet with containers that needs to be cleaned out?  You may simply need to clean out and organize your drawer or cabinet.  If you are in the market for new food containers though, I highly recommend these.

The “plastic food container” part of a kitchen always seems to be the worst area.  If yours needs help, see what you can do in 15 minutes…ready, set, go!

My Scrapbook Table

May 14, 2010

larsinnh crafty stuff, organizing 3 Comments

I’ve been scrapbooking since 1998, and over the years I’ve used various tables and desks to work on.  We decided that since I do SO much scrapbooking, I needed a better set up.  We went to an unfinished furniture store in our area, and bought this: a kitchen island.

Handy Man brought it home and finished it with polyurethane for me.  He also reinforced the bottom, and put rubber wheels on it so I could move it around.  I can move it into the living room and watch a movie while I scrap.

Believe me, my scrap surface is NOT this clean all the time!  I try to start out this way, so I can find everything…but it ends up covered in pages and paper and photos, etc.  The zippered case on the left holds blades and cutting system patterns. The long, black case in the middle stores stickers.  The tall black case on the right stores paper.  On the left is my 12″ Making Memories trimmer , and the pages I’m working on are right in front of me.  I also put the small trimmer to my right.  The blue and white item on the surface is my Ott light.  These lights are great for giving good, clear light for scrapping or any kind of crafting.

On the side of the island facing us, there is an overhang that is hard to see in the photo.  I bought a bar-height chair that I can sit on that brings me right up to the table so I can sit in a good position to scrap.

I bought these baskets from the unfinished furniture store; they were reasonably priced, and fit perfectly.  Inside them I store my EZ runner and other adhesives; large and small punches, extra cutting templates etc. etc.  I can pick up a basket and put it on the surface while using it.

The back of the unit, which has shelves for storage: I usually store my photo boxes in there, and bags and cases that I use when transporting my stuff to a crop.  I also store 12×12 page refills, and 12×12 pages that are in progress.  I do have to pull the whole unit from the wall to get around to the back, but that is easy because of the wheels.  Plus, I store things in there that I don’t need to access every time I scrap.

These are the shelves opposite the basket shelves.  Handy Man thought I should get more square baskets, but I wanted larger areas to store big items.  I store memorabilia in here, stamps (which I don’t use that much yet), and oversize memorabilia and such that won’t fit elsewhere.  I may get more square baskets eventually, but for now I like the more open storage here.

Above each side (where the baskets and large memorabilia are stored), I have small drawers. One side holds pens and a few extra blades; and the other side stores miscellaneous photos.

That’s a tour of my scrapbook table.  Right now, the surface is a mess, because I’ve been sorting some photos and memorabilia, but before I get to working, I’ll clean it off.  This holds most of the things I use to scrap.  I do have some extra albums and pages in a closet elsewhere, because if I stored them here I’d have to room for my little things!  But this table really contains all of the things I use when I’m scrapping.

I am also very careful when I think about buying something new; I think about where it would go on or in my table.  I’m selective, because I do not want to outgrow this table.  I want everything to be self-contained on here.

It can be hard to store crafts that have a lot of supplies (like scrapbooking, stamping, sewing, etc.)  If you have a craft area and it is a huge mess, work on whittling down the amount of “stuff” you have.  You can ask local schools if they would take donations of craft items.  Think about different ways you can store your craft things.

This wasn’t the cheapest option, but over the years I have struggled with storage, and having a large enough surface, so it was worth it to me to buy this piece of furniture.  Handy Man thought about buying wood to make me something similar, but it turns out that buying all new wood would have cost more than buying this island and refinishing it!

Do you have a craft or hobby area?  What is it like?

The Boy’s Room is Clean (for the moment)!

May 6, 2010

larsinnh kid stuff, organizing 1 Comment

So!  It took some time on and off over 3 days, but Handy Boy and I finished cleaning up his room!

This bookcase is from my childhood.  My dad made it for us, and behind the dolls on the top shelf it says “1 2 3″ and “P Q R.”

I guess when I was learning the alphabet, my favorite letters were “P Q R” and I used to repeat that a lot.

The antique desk is something that Handy Man and I bought before we even had Handy Boy.  He loves to sit at the desk and color, draw and play Legos.  Sometimes he does homework on it.  He usually does his homework in the kitchen.

Handy Boy’s closet is a masterpiece inside!  I will show how Handy Man built special shelves in the closet some time, to store all of Handy Boy’s “stuff.”  I just wanted a picture of the floor that will stay clean for about 5 minutes.

No picture of his bed at the moment, because I was washing sheets and blankets.

Oh, and the Wicked Big Lego Project?  That was sort of put on hold for a while, since we’ve all been taking turns being sick and such.  But we do hope to get back to it, eventually.  Handy Boy still loves his Legos, and he’s been good about keeping the sorted ones organized.

Declutter Challenge for a Monday

May 3, 2010

larsinnh kid stuff, organizing 2 Comments

Here’s a project I’ve been working on lately.  I thought it would make a good Monday Decluttering Challenge.  I’ve been going through clothes and cleaning out and organizing some closets.  This is a picture of The Boy’s closet.  He has grown like a WEED lately, and I had to get him all new jeans and pull out some shirts that don’t fit.  There’s not much left!  I left a few long-sleeved shirts, but I will have to buy more of those in the fall.

Don’t worry about Handy Boy, we have stocked up on plenty of shorts and Spongebob t-shirts for the summer.  He is finally able to wear shorts, now that the weather has warmed up.

Over short amounts of time on different days, I went through the Boy’s closet and his dresser.  Each time, I had him try on a few things.  Of course he moaned and groaned, but it was the only way I could be sure of what fits or not, since he’s grown so much lately.  I put several items into bags for donation, and organized what was left.

This was a pretty easy project, since The Boy doesn’t have a lot of clothes.  Do you have a closet you could go through?  I think kids’ closets can either be a nightmare or pretty easy, depending on how many clothes they have!  If you have a large closet cleaning project to do, don’t do it all at once! Just do one section per day, over a week or two.  It will still get done, and you won’t have to devote a whole Saturday to it.  Place two bags near the closet: put donations into one, and put clothes you want to give to a friend’s child in the other bag. Ready, set, GO!

The Goodwill Pile

April 22, 2010

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I really don’t know where this all came from…but here is the pile o’ stuff we are going to bring to Goodwill.  It started as just one bag, then multiplied into 2…and then we started to really clean out the basement and the house, and now we have this huge pile!

Just when I think that we have donated or recycled a ton of stuff, and I’ll never get a big pile again, we do!  I don’t think our house is overly clutter-y…we have had yard sales before, many trips to Goodwill, sold stuff on Craigslist, etc.  But I guess clutter keeps creeping up on you, and you have to go through stuff at least once a year, so it doesn’t start taking over again.

We had several yard sales in the homes we lived in before, but we only had one sale here.  It was the worst yard sale that we ever had!  We hardly sold anything, and very few people came.  Several of the people who came said: “Wow, you guys are waaaaay out in the middle of nowhere!”  That, for some reason, irritated me.  And that is probably why we didn’t get many people, we are kind of in the middle of nowhere.  But for the people who came and said that, I felt like saying “where did you COME from, Alaska?”

So, no more yard sales here.  We just put stuff in a pile to bring to Goodwill, and we bring things to the recycling center.  Sometimes I ask a friend or a family member if they would like an item that is in very good condition, and they’ll take it.  We try to put very little into the actual garbage.

Handy Man was so pleased to clean off one of his work tables in the basement.  As you can see, it’s at the bottom of the steps, so lots of stuff gets thrown on the surface.  I think that underneath the table needs some work; but at least he can work on the surface now.

In Honor of Earth Day, try to recycle or donate things you don’t need anymore.  Many of your things could go to someone who could use them.

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