Saturday, August 6, 2011

What if I jinx myself?

If you've been here any length of time, you'll know I struggle to keep a tidy house. I'm not sure why it's so difficult for me. I think I get overwhelmed, tired, and don't know where to start. Then when it is clean I think I'm ok for a day or two.... and we're back at square one. Now, I have kids and I'm not delusional, thinking my home will be immaculate 24/7. We live here for Heaven's sake.

But the clutter was getting to me. I know I posted just a few weeks ago about how I felt overwhelmed constantly. Much of that feeling was from the house being in constant disarray.

I wish I'd followed through on an idea I had months ago. A book shelf. Seriously, a bookshelf has taken me from Home Catastrophe to "The best its ever been".

Tuesday afternoon I went to WalMart and bought this bookcase kit. Matt was working late, Oceana was at VBS down the street, and Naomi and I took it upon ourselves to put it together. Yah, she's not very helpful in that respect. But I did it! And it stands. It's even anchored to the wall.

A few collapsible fabric boxes from the Dollar Tree, and we're in business. My kitchen table (my official catch-all that is never cleaned off unless I have dumped the piles elsewhere) has been cleared for 4 days straight now! There's something about this act of clearing my table that has gotten me on the way to a straightened home! Wow!



My plan is to do this for 21 days - that magic habit-forming number. I hope it works!

In case it's interesting to you:

Shelf #1 - box of my stuff that I have to save, but doesn't have a particular home, box of Matt's gaming stuff (headset, controls, and games), and space for the laptop. We have never had a place to put it - which is really not safe, seeing as Naomi is my daughter ...

Shelf #2 - Manila folder of "to be filed" paperwork, box of kids DVDs, box of Oceana's "special stuff" (ie. that she doesn't want Naomi touching), and my box of coupons. ((grin))

Shelf #3 - My books, camera, Matt's magazines (in a covered cereal box), and the Kleenex boxes.

Shelf #4 - Coloring books, and Oceana's VBS stuff. The VBS stuff is still special, so it can stay there for the week, then I think it has to find another home.

Shelf #5 - Books we own, the few toys we allow down in the living room, and then library books on the opposite end.

Seriously, its made my life livable. I'm really excited about it. Now I just have to add all the other elements back into my life. Ha. One thing at a time....

5 comments:

  1. This is a great idea! I have often thought about the categories of junk that I want to hide- tv remotes(too many!), baby toys, breast pump parts, stuff I don't want to deal with......now I'm thinking of where I can fit a bookshelf in my already-over-populated place.....

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  2. Oh girl. You & I are kindred spirits indeed. It would make you shudder if I texted you a picture of my kitchen table right this minute. (and trust me...it's pretty bad...and stays that way all the time) Perhaps I need another bookshelf around here!

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  3. I am trying to visualize this photo. Is it a reverse image or something? Looks backwards to me. Great job though. Clutter B Gone.

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  4. Very good! I hope you don't jinx yourself. I wish I had space for another bookshelf!

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  5. good job! my parents were both messy so our house always had messes and things left out all over the place. so i grew up with messy as normal. as an adult my room/apt was always messy. THEN i met my hubs. he's a neat freak so i HAVE to keep everything clean. literally i cant make the bed good enough (he always fixes it after me) and if i dont wash the dishes quickly enough he comments on it. it stressed me out to have anything out of order cause i know he's going to be bothered. so im always working hard to keep it nice... it leads to plenty of arguments and he's trying to chill out a little... but yea, i guess my cure for messiness is my husband. haha.

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