Plugging along

Nothing like getting started on a motivating and large-scale project and then promptly leaving town for a beach vacation, then a weekend at the lake, then starting school and dealing with loss.

Suffice it to say, the great Tidying has found itself a bit off the rails.

But I have not abandoned it!  Not by a long shot.  In the midst of dealing with All The Things, stopping to clear out a closet or a corner of the basement actually feels kind of ... good.  Fulfilling.  Lightening.  We've done quite a bit of removing over the last two weeks and while I'm not truly honoring the category method, I am still noticing a tangible change in our house. Drawers and shelves that have empty space... with nothing encroaching back into it.  Places in the basement where you can almost see the walls.  I feel almost like the house is standing taller, taking a deep breath.

We're not there yet.  But I feel like we have taken a real step on the journey.

Over the next few weeks I will be trying to get back to categories, with full documentation and before / after photos (because who doesn't love before/after photos??) But for today-- here is what is on my mind:

Why in god's name is it so difficult to find new homes for your discarded possessions??

I know, I know.  I am supposed to just throw it all away.  Truly discard all these things that do not bring me joy.  But!  How wasteful can you get??? The environmentalist in me just throws a fit when I try to put a perfectly re-useable item into the trash.  So its been piling up, all this good stuff that I just don't want.  In nicely organized piled boxes and bins throughout the house.

We can I know, take it all to the Salvation Army.  But it seems to me that we ought to be able to get all this stuff directly to the people who can use it, right?

So much work.

So much coordinating of drop offs and pickups.  Moving bags from porch to trunk and back to porch when you haven't been able to get to that drop-off all week and you need your trunk back. So much schlepping up and down the stairs, pulling in and out of closets.  So much dragging on and off of lawns for (very disappointing) yard sales.  Can't even give some of this stuff away on the tree lawn!

I have this little dream that someone will come over while I am work and remove all the things I don't need.  This magical person will somehow know the things I need to keep and those I can let go of, and when I return home, all the extra will just be ... gone!  Off to new lives, all those things, happily serving and feeling loved and useful for a change, zip zip! Can you imagine!

Sigh.  I will keep dreaming, and in the meantime I will keep schlepping, dragging, and plugging along.  It's a process, and it will be worth it, right?

Next up: Medicine cabinets

Back from vacation and back to work.... We know how to have fun around here!  Tonight:  Medicine Cabinets.  All three of em.  Because everyone needs three medicine cabinets, right?   

Two of which are pictured below.  (The third, a drawer of random travel sized toiletries and lightbulbs) was tackled rather spontaneously last night after tucking in the kids.)

Before:

The assembled clutter...  8 years worth of accumulation...

Mid-sort.  I find I create a circle as I work through each category.

Ivy has been my dedicated helper on this project.  She had a great time throwing out all of the expired medications, quickly internalizing the rule that any "loose pills" were an automatic pitch (you'd be surprised how many of those there were!  You'd also be surprised at the number of medications that were 8-10 years old.  That trash bag?  Full.

After:

Kitchen:  Only medicines are in middle bin-- vitamins and painkillers. The joy of empty space inside a cabinet should not be underrated...

Bathroom:  The rest of the medicines are here, upstairs storage has been freed up for bedding.  Extra space in this cabinet now houses toilet paper and cleaning products, which were previously shoved into the space around the toilet.  Getting better around here, one forgotten little corner at a time..

I'm a bit concerned about these bins in the medicine cabinet.  At the moment they are organized by type and size and frequency of use and it's all lovely.  But this storage method seems to violate the rule of accessible and visible, and I can see these bins overflowing with randomly tossed items before too long.  The likely solution is to discard more.  But it turns out that the criteria of "sparking joy" is a tough one to meet when working with allergy medication and Pepto-Bismol.

It's a good start, at any rate...

Now, what to work on tomorrow???