I can't believe I've been absent from blogdom more than a week! After that quick 12-hour stomach thingy that hit three of the five of us, we've been busy with the house. Duncan did a fabulous job painting a large portion of our home in Gold Buff, or Golden Buff, as Amelie calls it. As one friend put it, it's as if we brought the sunshine right inside! Our carpet is called "cider" and is the neutral, variegated type of carpet that our home has been missing all of these 6.5 years we've lived in this house. The furniture is rearranged, some is going, some new is coming. We're in purge mode, getting rid of and throwing out SO MUCH STUFF! It feels SOOOOOO good.
I'm still working on getting things back on the wall. Then it's time for PAPER. If anyone has a good method of dealing with the ridiculous amount of paper the accumulates in their home, I would love to hear it. I'm not naturally an organized person. It's a struggle for me to wade through what is necessary to keep, what can be tossed, etc. Like those explanation of benefits papers from the insurance company? How long should I hold onto those? Or do I need them at all? So, I've been doing research to find out how long we should hold onto such things.
Still on my to-do list:
1. Baby books (ugh!) There. I said it. Why does something that seems so innocuous make me feel so guilty?
2. pictures and mementos from before we had kids
3. three downstairs closets that are not usable because they are full of STUFF!
4. the garage --it's quite a mess since Duncan did the floors and painted. I think I'll leave it up to him;).
So there you have it. Lots going on here. Lots keeping me from blogging. I promise to post pictures soon!
I'm busy, busy, busy!
3 comments:
I LOVE organizing....not saying my house always reflects that, but I love organizing other people's stuff. ;o) Let me know if you want some help!
I'm playing on the computer right now because I don't want to conquer the pile of papers completely covering my desk. I feel your pain :)
Nancy,
Family Fun magazine (which you can see online) has lots of ideas for doing stuff with kids abudant artwork. Some suggestions I remember from the magazine: get pizza boxes (unused) from local pizza shop & store papers by year in the pizza boxes under the bed. They also suggest putting the kids artwork on the kickplate of your stairs (so you don't step on it) or to make a "quilt" of artwork out of those plastic sheet holders; use key rings to link them together and make a curtain/quilt of artwork.
I think that's all rather heavy on parent-preparation and doesn't actually get rid of any of the stuff... my suggestion is to take photos/scan it in, use a website like snapfish and make a book with the artwork. That way you have a copy that is organized, easily accessed and SMALL in terms of closet space!
What I do is make my children decide what to keep. They have "special drawers" that their schoolwork, art, etc go in. When the drawers get full, they decide what to toss. If I think something is especially neato, I take a picture of it or snag it myself and keep it in a binder.
Good luck! My mom is a Keeper and I am something of a Tosser, but I've got to say I'm also full of Clutter...so maybe my advice isn't worth much. :-) --chris f
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