Proof It Didn't Kill Me

So Hollie and I finished up my bedroom today. Yeah yeah, pix of that coming some other day. Actually maybe I'll wait until I paint and decorate it. But the closets and drawers look great. WOOT! But that's not what I'm here to talk about ...

Hollie's son volunteered to sort out and prep the garage for organizing -- I should've done it when it was warmer, it was eleventy-billion below today. But since he's a young man, he has no fear of the cold, no need for hats and gloves. I sent my eldest two out to help do some of the moving stuff out. We didn't really take everything OUT and organize it, because I wanted to sort of sort it, see what we had. You don't know how many shovels you have until they're all in one place.

So when Hollie and I were done in the bedroom, nearing the end of her time there, we went out to see how the kids had done. I only hyperventilated a little. And had that sinking "all this stuff, spread all over" feeling a little. Okay, a lot. But I bucked up and didn't freak out too much.

And they'd done a great job of sorting and spreading the things out. Except we had to get things back IN the garage before we were 'done' for the day, just sorted. And Hollie was out of time. But couldn't stop working. Here it was, past time for her to go, and she was trying to sweep the corner before putting the trash cans in, even though we'd just have to move all that OUT again tomorrow. I had to shove her into her car and quick lock her in to keep her from working. She was very unsure about leaving me with any tasks -- and with good reason! Since she always tacks on the phrase "if you want to" to any assignment she gives me ... well, you know how that turns out. I take the leeway she gives, and never want to. ha ha!

So today I told her to tell me to tidy up the sorting and put it back, and not to say "if you want to" ... and I promised I'd do it and it wouldn't kill me.

So this link is really for her, tucked away in her cozy home with her family, to prove that I didn't freeze and die trying to sort things out there. LOL. I present:

The Garage, put away sorted neatly but not yet organized.

I guess I should've taken before pix, you would've appreciated them. But I didn't. So you'll just have to wait for tomorrow, Organized With Room for the Small Van.

But see, Hollie? I told you I could do it without dying! I almost could've even made room for the van to fit, but I figured since we'll get it all out tomorrow or Friday, I didn't need to go that extra mile today. So I didn't. But still! It's even pretty tidy. I think you'll be pleased.

Tomorrow and Friday we'll toss and organize and it'll be like a new garage. Too bad I waited until it was too cold to paint.

Oh, and I didn't see any dead mice. So that's good. THAT might've killed me.

***

Oh, and I almost forgot to try to answer Reader Questions.

Betsy asked (and I paraphrase): "Where are the containers and shelves coming from?"

Most of the things we've used have been somewhere else in the house. We've bought a few cute basket packages from Meijer, and a few wire shelves ... I had some cute baskets buried in clutter here and there in the house, and the cubes with totes in the living room and boys room were things I'd bought previously in my attempts to control clutter myself. And I already owned lots of plastic totes that used to hold our too-too-too many toys in the past, in my various previous attempts to organize myself, which Hollie reclaimed with more thought and order than I'd done.

On top of that, Hollie is a prodigy in box customizing. She's taken shoe boxes and cardboard boxes and tapes little dividers and such, so that they hold things that are alike yet distinct. So many of the tidy spaces you see are divided with things I already had, and aren't cute and fancy when you look close, just amazingly functional. I really haven't spent a whole lot of money on organizey things yet, the most was on some cutesy baskets that I haven't figured out where to put yet.

As we've successfully decluttered, we've emptied out some dressers and cupboards and shelving units and been able to use them in other spaces.

Which brings me to Peggy's Question: "Okay, I have to know. Where IS everything? I see all the nearly-empty shelves and I have to wonder where all the boys' stuff went."

That's the other thing Hollie has really been a wonderful blessing with ... she has helped us to be more successful in our decluttering. In the boys' room I can't tell you how many times I'd swooped through (usually crabbily) and boxed up all their toys and stuff and stomped the box down to the basement to ... well, to be ignored or eventually just brought back up. Getting rid of stuff helped a little for a little while, but never really helped a LOT. Hollie helped us narrow down what we kept to fewer things, but additionally provided clear, labeled spaces for those things we DID keep.

If you look back at the boys before picture, you'll see that most of the mess was papers, toys, and clothes. We got rid of clothes the boys said they didn't like/wear (yes, even the ones I was fond of) and made clear homes in the closet for the ones we kept. We got rid of almost all the misc. toys, keeping just a few categories: Bionicles, Lego, Killer Bunnies game. We put in one of those magazine holders from elsewhere in the house to hold special papers and pictures and creations.

There was a bookshelf in the boys' closet that held books and piles of papers and misc. toys. We relocated the books to downstairs, leaving a very few to "live" in the bedroom, and we gave away some toys and relocated others to the rest of their "family" downstairs. Then we hung all their shirts and pants (Hollie's idea, she claimed it was easier, and it's working wonderfully!) which cleared out most of the dresser. Jammies, socks, and underwear fit into tidy canvas totes in that cube-thing, since those totes were no longer filled with miscellaneous junk.

Likewise in the rest of the house, giving away and throwing a way a fair amount of stuff is the main thing that has enabled us to find *space* -- and part of the idea is that if we leave a little free space, we'll have room to put things as we relocate them or buy more and such. So we're only aiming to fill shelves and cupboards 75-80% ...

We've had at least one "goodwill" box and some days two or three, for each day we've worked. And there's been a lot of things going to the trash, too.

I don't think I could've rid our home of so much stuff without her encouragement, gentle but firm questioning, and persistence. But it's been worth it.

Does that help answer those questions? Good thing it wasn't a 100 words or less essay question. LOL.