Project:Simplify Paper Clutter

Week two of Simple Mom's Project Simplify . This week's hot spot is paper clutter... Can I say that when I read the announcement on Monday morning my brain had a meltdown.  Paper clutter is my downfall.  I tend to just stack and think I'll deal with it "later"... later usually comes, well, later when the coupons are all expired and we've missed the event that goes with the invitation that was in the stack, etc. etc.  I've also had a cold all this week, another excuse to skip the project and wait until next week's hotspot.  Nope, I'm STRONG, I told myself, I CAN DO IT!  So I started.  Here are my before pictures:

I had a large pile of recycling that I sent to work with Thayne to be shredded.

And After!  The big file cabinet upstairs also acts as a bedside table.

This smaller file box is in the kitchen and is supposed to hold school papers, store ads, coupons, bills to pay, and other short term items. The idea was to keep it all off the counter.  It's a good system, but I need to use it now! I think I still have some work to do in this area:)  Thanks Simple Mom for the motivation!

Project: Simplify

I'm participating in Simple Mom's Project: Simplify! The project this week? My wardrobe and closet.  I had a bit of a jump start on this project because we had gone through our clothes in January and sent quite a pile to the Deseret Industries Trift store.  I turned all the hangers backwards so we could see what we were really wearing and what items we had kept 'just because we may wear them'.  The Project:Simplify gave me the push to go through all my clothes again, a lot of the clothes whose hangers were still hanging backwards were put in the give away pile.  A few are still backwards because it's just too cold to wear them yet! I got rid of a big pile of stuff, I can see and vacuum the floor in my closet now without moving anything! Yay! Here are my pictures BEFORE:

and AFTER:

Now I'm ready for next week!

Closet Space

We went through our closet and donated a bunch of clothes a couple of weeks ago. I still think that there are items in there that we are not wearing, so I have turned all the hangers backwards in an effort to narrow it down some more. This is one of those you can't be in denial exercises.  After the clothes are worn and washed they go back in the closet with the hanger the right way.  If, after a season is over, those clothes are still hanging on a backward hanger in the closet then you DID NOT wear them.  They will leave our home...even if we think we should keep them just in case.  This will be a long term project as each season comes and goes.  (Notice the empty space on the shelf above!! That is where the big box of pictures was!! A clutter free spot.)

Finished Scrapbook

Yay! One project done!  This took me almost a month of Sundays to finish but now all the pictures I have of my childhood are in one book instead of eight falling apart magnetic books in a box.  I'm really surprised that all of it fit into one book.  There are no fancy scrapbooking papers, stickers or wavy scissor cuts, just simple white paper and pictures (that is how they were in the old books, so that is how you will see them here.)  Now I have one uncluttered shelf spot in my closet.  Done...now on to the next project!

Scrapbooks

Again with my New Years goals... I have a big box in my bedroom closet that is full of scrapbooks from my birth to pre-married life.  They are all made with those "magnetic" sticky scrapbooks.  Some of the pictures are falling out and some are stuck so well that I may have to cut them off of the page.  My plan is to peal them all out of the books and get them into an acid free scrapbook that I can share with my kids, without worrying about the pictures falling all over when we turn the pages.  This project will satisfy two of my goals! Loosing that box will get rid of clutter in my closet, and working toward completing my scrapbooks is another goal. This box is a project I have put off for too long.  Wish me luck!

Cut The Clutter

One of my goals for this new year is to declutter my home.  This probably sounds familiar...it does to me.  This year I'm hoping that I will really stick with it.  I have set up a bin in my washroom for items that are being donated to the Deseret Industries thrift store.  When I see something that I know I do not need/want any longer I can put it in the bin immediately.  This way I don't feel like I have to do this huge whole house clean all at once.  I have set another goal that I will make a trip to the D.I. each week.  That way I can drop off whatever has accumulated in the bin during the week.  My thinking is that we'll have a lot at the beginning and not so much near the end of the year.  This past week everyone was on board and I believe that there was something in the pile from every family member!  We had quite a lot of stuff to donate, by the time we were ready to go to the D.I. it was overflowing on the washroom floor.  Nathan also sold a couple of items on KSL!  My idea is to clean as if we were moving. Look at items in our house and decide if we would really take the time to pack it in a box, haul it somewhere else, unload it, still love it, etc.  If it's not worth all that work, we probably don't need it here in this home either!  I feel better already! Here is a pic of our donate pile this week.  We made a trip last week too, but I didn't think to take a picture:)

I'll try to keep you updated on my progress with this clutter cutting project!