MAGICAL TIDYING: CRAFT ROOM

So, I know it has been about 40 billion years since I wrote about magical tidying.  Life sort of keeps marching on, and I keep doing other things.  Mostly our home has stayed pretty tidy.  My laundry room still becomes a crazy catch all, but it is easier to get it back to square one now that everything has an actual place.

A couple of weeks before we left for Aruba, I was bemoaning some un-done projects on the phone to my sister.  She super graciously invited herself to come help me with those.  In my head, we were going to tackle some of the re-decorating I've been hoping to finish this year.  In reality, when she got here, we realized that her giftedness would be most helpful in cleaning out some desperate spaces in my home.  She is awesome at that, and I get paralyzed and listless in the face of big mess.


(I want to be more like her.)

We wisely outsourced most childcare to a local VBS 🙌🏻, so we were able to accomplish quite a bit in the couple of days that she was here.  We spent all of a Monday in the girls' room.  They have some hoarder tendencies, and I hadn't exactly put away all of their Christmas gifts. 🤦🏻‍♀️ #itsonlyjune
We also destickered every surface, which was badly needed and doctored all the broken books.

I did a good job taking pictures of her doing a good job. 🤷🏻‍♀️😜

The craziest room in my home has long been my craft room, which John has lovingly referred to as my "Crap Room."  Just imagine if all of the birthday parties that I've thrown in the last five years threw up all over a space.  Then throw in some fabric from sewing projects, spare pieces of clothing that I've been meaning to mend or use for craft projects (?) and some actual dried cat vomit, and you can pretty much get the gist of the space.  I did a bad job taking pictures, but I can fully describe that the closet had two solid feet of junk on the floor, making it impossible to walk in or use. 😳

This is what it looked like in the middle of the madness.

The transformation is unbelievable.  The entire back of John's Sequoia was full with the seats down.  Between the two rooms, we filled four contractor bags with trash and gave away a ton of stuff.  Feels so good.

Gigantic thanks to my sister Ellen for walking me through this soul-sucking process that I never could have tackled on my own.  I'm forever grateful.  And John is even more grateful.

MAGICAL TIDYING: LAUNDRY ROOM

Well, I knew that this fall was going to be a little hairy, but I still really wanted to get a few things magically tidied before I left on some of my trips.  My laundry room is pretty small, but it has a ton of storage - actually more than I have even utilized.  The problem is that my laundry room has often become a catch all of crazy.  Are people coming over and there is stuff all over the house? - throw it in the laundry room!  Is there something that I need to do with that piece of clothing that I don't feel like doing? - leave it laying on top of the washer!  Are there more bags than I know what to do with sitting around? - keep them in the laundry room!  (Then forget about them and buy more bags.  A different problem for a different day.)

Basically, it's been a pit for a pretty long time.  But - this magical tidying stuff is proving to work for me.  My closet has stayed mostly pristine since I tidied it back in January, and most of the spaces that I have done have mostly stayed the way that I put them.  (The gross exception to this is the kids' spaces which have a lot of helping hands. 😁)

So here's the before.  Keep in mind, my laundry room is small, with no natural light, so the pictures of both the before and after won't look great.

So, for the first time ever, I decided to put a little thought into what should go where.  Amazing what a difference that makes.  I am now utilizing the storage drawers under my washer and dryer for laundry products and our spill towels for anytime my kids spill something.  (Please tell me that your household always requires a ready supply of spill towels.)




I streamlined my cleaning supplies, and I got rid of a ton of the excess stuff.  Feels so good.

I also went through my cookie stuff and cleared anything that was just hanging out where it shouldn't have been.

Turns out, magical tidying is really just having a home for anything I have and doing my best to put things where they go consistently.  It's not rocket science, but it does require some effort.  The other thing about it is that once I get it all where it belongs, I really want to keep it that way and have found that I am willing to put in the effort.  Here's hoping it keeps!

Past Magical Tidying Updates
Initial Post
Update #1 (Clothes)
Update #2 (Books)
Update #3 (Kitchen)
Update #4 (I Can Do Anything!)
Update #5 (Stalling Out)

MAGICAL TIDYING: STALLING OUT

So, it's June, and I am coming to grips with the fact that my magical tidying has stalled out for the time being.  Though the last magical tidying post I wrote was titled, "I Can Do Anything!", I'm still learning the reality that I cannot do everything. 😔 Especially at the same time.

May attacked me full force with a whirlwind trip to NYC, and the end of the school year madness that descends upon families.  It was everything I could do to finish whatever task lay directly in front of me.  Now it is summer, and my precious children are forever at hand and underfoot.  This is what my kitchen looked like yesterday.

 

Right this second, I feel like I am spending most of my time just keeping up with the basics.  Making the food, serving the food, and cleaning up the food all take time.  And the laundry.  There is so much.  Always.  By the time the kitchen is clean, the house is half way picked up and the laundry is completed (this is a unicorn trifecta in my home), then it is time to start it all again.

So, I'm working on giving myself grace this summer.  I am re-working on the kiddos closets now that we are in all summer clothing.  I think the constant reworking of those is just the cross we bear as mothers.  I have a list of the loose ends of all the other areas I finished, and I honestly need John's help to finish several of them.  Hopefully we will make time for that in the coming weeks.

That's the update.  There's not much happening right this second, but I am committed to finishing by the end of 2016.  I like giving myself realistic deadlines, and since I have almost 7 months left, I think it will happen.  Just probably not this summer when everyone is at the house.

Past Magical Tidying Updates
Initial Post
Update #1 (Clothes)
Update #2 (Books)
Update #3 (Kitchen)
Update #4 (I Can Do Anything!)

MAGICAL TIDYING UPDATE #4: I CAN DO ANYTHING!

I began my magical tidying journey with the new year, and the fact that it is mid-April, and I am actually still trucking along with this tells me so many things.

1.  There are A LOT of places and things in my home that have needed my attention.  Maybe I'm halfway done with this project - maybe a little more.  It's hard to know at this point.  I am being extremely thorough, because what's the point of doing it if I'm not going to do it all the way?

2.  Marie Kondo (author of the book) is truly a tidying genius - or at least, she has come up with a method that is very helpful to me.  I can easily run things through a filter of what sparks joy or what I need and make real decisions.  Since decision making is the part of the whole process that has always seemed the most daunting, it is helpful to have some clear lines for me.  The more I've done it, the easier it has become.

3.  I can do ANYTHING!  💪 Now - I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  That verse has been ingrained forever in my life.  But, the truth is that I have not always had the internal motivation to do the nitty gritty work that I don't like doing.  Usually the motivation would have fizzled and faded by now, and the effort would not have gotten past my closet.  But it's been amazingly rewarding to overcome my lazy lack of self-discipline to do something that I've always wanted to do (put my whole house in order) but never believed I actually could do.

It's made me wonder what else I am capable of - probably all the things - though I shouldn't get too carried away.  I do have a tendency towards extremes.😳

I've still been working in my kitchen, and I must say, my spices have arrived.  This section of my pantry makes me ridiculously happy. 🙌🙌🙌



Though I majorly pared down on my food storage supply, I was still finding it difficult to match stuff.



It dawned on me that I could get all new stuff for not a lot of money and be able to quickly find lids.  It's not a hard or expensive change, but it is one that I wouldn't have done before this process.  We would have just suffered through.  (I do know that not being able to match the correct lid to the correct container is not real suffering.)  However, though the drawer doesn't look any prettier - it is at prime functionality for us.



Most of it matches, and it's the amount we actually need instead of taking up two giant drawers with craziness.

The moral of this tidying story is that if you can tidy your everything, than you can do anything. 👊  At least, that's what I'm getting out of it.

Past Magical Tidying Updates
Initial Post
Update #1 (Clothes)
Update #2 (Books)
Update #3 (Kitchen)

MAGICAL TIDYING UPDATE #3: KITCHEN CLEAN UP

Though I clearly haven't been blogging about it weekly, I have been continuing the magical tidying journey.  I did some work in our living room with media stuff and have some loose ends to finish up - do I throw away all the CDs we own?  Do I own a CD player outside of my car?  These are hard questions to answer.  I also need to go through all of our electronic stuff/cords, but I need John's help with that, and we just haven't made the time yet.

So, I tackled the kitchen which is almost entirely in my jurisdiction and control.  Except for the four little people that like to wreck havoc and cause mayhem, of course.  Turns out, I create my own mayhem and chaos.

Exhibit A: My Food Storage Hoarding Issues
(these were stored in two huge drawers)



Exhibit B: My Random Utensil Drawer



Exhibit C:  Pantry Shelves of Disarray



Clearly, I have some issues, and I've been tackling them over the last couple of weeks as time allows. Which - let's just be honest - time rarely allows, especially because it is not something that I am particularly excited about doing.  BUT- the payoff has been great for me so far.  I am LOVING my closet and bathroom and bedroom being fully tidied, which gives credibility to the reasoning for why Kondo (author of the book) says to start there.  She says that if you can get your personal stuff in order and love it, then you will start to realize how transforming it can really be.  So far, that all rings true for me.

Things have a place to be, and I am pretty decent at putting them in their places.  The problems for me start when I get lazy and confused and I haven't determined where something should go.  Then that item languishes, often in plain sight, mocking me with its presence.  But, I am now addressing those items, instead of letting them mock me, and that is for the best in my little world.

I've made quite a bit of head way in the kitchen, though I've done it a bit haphazardly.  The random utensil drawer looks and functions so much better.



My drawer of kitchen linens got a major spruce up, which I know will bring joy to my mother's heart.  She's tried to organize it a couple of times, and it hasn't exactly stuck.  I do have every reason to believe that this will.  One of the major things I took away from the book was folding and storing clothing in a way that files them.  This also works great when applied to my kitchen towels.



Truth be told, my kitchen has more than enough storage for the stuff we have in it.  The space hasn't been utilized very well, and now that we have lived in our home for six years, I have much better ideas on what should be where and what I actually use and need.  Years ago, we cleaned out and organized our pantry, and I even blogged about it.  Some of it stuck, but now I have a better understanding of what food we will have on hand, and it's getting a better overhaul.

I also found and discarded Bacon Bits that expired in 2006.  If I haven't used them in 10 years, it's safe to say I'm not going to.  (insert laugh cry emoji string)  My attention was also drawn to the fact that I have collected far more cans of tomatoes in various states than any one family could possibly need.  I don't even really like tomato based sauces much, so I'm not sure why I had about 20 different cans of them.  #wishiwasexaggerating



I still have several problem areas to tackle like the cup/medicine cabinet and the spices and the cookie drawer.  But - much of the kitchen is finished, and that feels really good.  I feel like my house and life are being changed little by little with the power of the magical tidying.  So glad I'm doing it - even if I don't love every moment of it.

Past Magical Tidying Updates
Initial Post
Update #1 (Clothes)
Update #2 (Books)

MAGICAL TIDYING UPDATE #2: BOOKS

It's time for another magical tidying update!  (1st Post, 1st Update) It is helpful to make myself write about this, because it does keep me motivated to keep going.  I'm learning a lot through this massive purge.  I can see that this magical tidying process may take me about six months, because there is this thing called real life that I have to do in the meantime.  Also- I only have so much tidying energy, and I am realizing that I need to allocate a bit more of that to regular tidying so that our main living areas don't become pig-sty-esque in the process.

I did finish all clothing and personal items for both myself and the kiddos.  Thankfully, their bathroom was pretty sparse on stuff, so it didn't take too long.  I go through their closets every six months, so there were not a ton of excess clothes, but our costume stash was out of control and that is now fixed.  I have tubs in the attic with each size of clothing, and it is nice to be able to eliminate some completely as Violet out grows the girl stuff, since she is very likely the last girl.

The next recommended category is books, so I tackled our largest storage space for those - a shelf in our guest bedroom.  Here's what it looked like when I started.

I took out every single book and was amazed at how many I had never read or will never read.  The truth is, I read voraciously, but it is almost always on a device.  That works better for me, and so, while most of these books are not obsolete in content for me, the reality is that I will likely not ever pick up most of them and neither will John.  With that in mind, I was able to get rid of quite a few which are pictured below.



I did keep beloved classics, and I also kept a generous amount of children's books that I hope our kiddos will be able to enjoy in the near(ish) future.  I don't have an after shot of the bookshelf yet, because it is still in disarray.  I haven't been back down to straighten it up.  I'm also planning on grouping media into this book category and getting rid of any movies/CDs/games that we just don't use.

Going through every little thing we own is really enlightening.  I get to see so much of our journey and what made us who we are.  The books we had collected were perfect examples of this.  So many of them were from college and though I'm not going to re-read them, I am thankful for the words that have impacted my life and shaped my world view.  The bookshelf was like a trip down memory lane, and that collection of books will never stand together again.  There is a bit of sadness in that, but I feel lighter knowing what I have and knowing that I genuinely want the things that I kept.

MAGICAL TIDYING UPDATE #1, MOSTLY CLOTHES

So, last week I wrote that I was going to start putting into practice The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  And I went at it full force.  I decided weekly (or whenever I feel like it) updates may be in order.  Maybe you will be inspired to tidy yourself!  Maybe it will be a good record of what I am learning along the way.  Either way - this is one of the primary things that I am working on in spare moments, so I'm going to blog about it.

The author recommends that you start with clothing, so I have been diligently sorting through all of the clothing that I am responsible for.  This entails me and all the kiddos.  I have been through my closet in the not too distant past, and I was still able to part with far more than I ever have before. I had about 50 plus hangers swinging empty when I was done, and my drawers have lots of empty space (mostly because I hang almost everything.)  I think I am going to get to know the people at the Goodwill drive-thru before this is all said and done.



I am SO pleased with the final results in my closet, and I went ahead and did ALL accessories, which for me included toiletries and bathroom drawers.  Everything is in perfect order, which truly feels amazing.

(These shelves were a travesty when I started, and now they are functional!)

Now, the kiddos rooms are another story.  I'm about half way through their clothing alone, and I've found there are many perils and pitfalls.  Mostly that the twins don't exactly nap during all of their "nap time" and instead like to pull neatly folded clothing out of drawers and closets.




By God's grace, we all lived through this experience.  I'm about to pare down our costume stash, which is expansive.  Since I go through the kids' clothes about every six months, there's not a lot of excess, but it is nice to shuffle it around in a way that makes more sense.  I am LOVING standing all the clothes on end in the drawers so they are like files of clothes.  So much easier to look through quickly, and things are much less likely to be smashed and forgotten at the bottom of a stack.

What have I learned this week?

Well - I have hung on to many things in the past out of guilt.  Guilt that someone gave it to me, and it wasn't quite right.  Guilt that I bought it and should have returned it and never did.  Guilt that it is perfectly good, but I no longer wore it for whatever reason.  This process helped me realize that guilt is not a good reason to keep things that I don't need and won't use.  I've been able to clearly see what I use and what "sparks joy," and for me - that's been a very helpful way of looking at things.

I've also learned that magical tidying will not happen overnight and will create a mess in the short run.  It's like having to spend money to make money - I have to make more of a mess to get to less of a mess overall.

Now I just have to keep up the momentum.  And keep the twins out of their drawers.

MAGICAL TIDYING

I know I mentioned it in my New Year's post, but this year, I want to do a "grand purge."  I am by no means a hoarder, but I after looking around a bit, I think I tend to let things linger out of laziness.  In the back of my mind, I always want to be neater, but it has felt elusive and too plain hard.

Now, I'm mostly through this book -



and I'm feeling more hopeful about this process than I ever have before.  I know that I have more stuff than I need - this is probably true of most of North America.  However, I often feel guilt over getting rid of perfectly good things - even if I donate them.  I get bogged down, and then I become paralyzed with indecision.  Then laziness sets in, and status quo remains.

If you're interested in the book - this blog post contains an excellent summation of the main points.  This blogger also addresses what it is like to try to tidy with children in your home in another post, which is a beast that the book does not mention.  The basic premise is to examine EVERY item in your home and ask the question, "Does it spark joy?"  Now - this will work for some and probably not for others  (John thinks it sounds a little crazy, but he is already naturally good at this and doesn't need the help.)  However, it does speak to me.  It has already helped to reframe the way I think about the stuff that I have and about the ways I go about accumulating more stuff.

The book also gives a great road map of HOW.  After reading Seven several years ago, we got rid of some stuff, but it is different to try to do everything all at once and to great purpose.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.  Don't worry.  I will most definitely keep you posted, since I know you are dying to know about my stuff.

For me, there is a trap here, because it would be easy for me to make an idol of something that does sound so magical.  I want the feeling of having things perfectly in order, and then I will feel all better about everything in life.  I'm thankful that I've come far along in life to realize that no amount of magical decluttering will fix the state of my heart.  However, the state of our home does impact and feed the state of our minds, so I do want to be mindful and care for it in a way that serves God and serves our family.  Also - I don't want to be a slave to stuff, and it can feel that way when stuff skirts the edges of my mind, taunting me for not dealing with it.

So - let the magical tidying begin!  I actually began yesterday.  I sorted all of the short-sleeved shirts that I owned, because I had about 20 extra minutes, so I snuck it in.  It was amazing to me how the "spark joy" filter changed the way that I went through my clothing - something I have done with some regularity.  Maybe you'll join me on this journey?