Thursday, May 31, 2012

Reassessment

I went and re-assessed the storage unit (about 6x6ft) last night. Prior to the move, it was filled to an average depth of 5-6ft. Now, I have 2 visible shelving units on two walls, the floor has a treadle base, camp chair, punching dummy, and a couple garden items. The treadle needs re-homed.

One shelf is RM's stuff. It's also holding treadle parts and an extra lamp of mine.

One shelf is mine. It is about as decluttered as I can get it: one box each of Yule decor, Other Season decor, fabric, smaller clothes for me (am loosing weight now), Mathom box, and one box of decor I expect I'll use later. And the camping stuff, too.

I'm happy with where it's at.

***

I do still have to declutter the area around my computer desk. Currently, that involves my toolbox, a half-empty filebox, a box of some kind of books (I've forgotten what's in it since I filled it about 2 weeks ago), and a box of cookbooks I want to get recipes out of. And the small paperdrift forming on top of the desk itself.

A lack of organization is hurting me here. Incoming mail? Place on 'puter desk. Note to self? Place on 'puter desk. Keep in mind, said desk is 24" long and about 12" wide. It already holds the monitor & good speakers, which take up 75%+ of the available space.

The filebox I plan to use to hold incoming bills, scrapbooking papers, and another section or two that will depend on what's in the paperdrift. That should help with the chaos. The toolbox needs to find a permanent home and I need to do a general straightening in that area at the same time.

On the brighter side- the living room and kitchen are staying clean, and I now have a lovely view to the balcony. I straightened up out there last night and now instead of a mess there are baskets of nasturtiums and herbs, and the tomato plants that I need to get into the garden. I'll be adding cascading petunias too, and soon it will be a lovely viney wild delight of blooms.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Progress, Week 3

Progress has been made!

All the pictures are up on the walls. I've learned how to fold up my futon easily in the mornings before work - when it's flat, I barely have room to walk in my room. If it's folded, I have SPACE. So nice!

The Pantry
I've assessed more of the pantry area over the washer & dryer. The majority of the food is out of there. The top shelf is rarely-used, large items that I want to keep: the pressure canner, roasting pan, the popcorn popper I'm so tempted to get rid of. Jiffy-Pop takes less storage space, and actually gets used. Hmmm. The bottom shelf is some 'seconds' of food items (extra bottle of ketchup, for example), glass storage jars that are being filtered, and a bunch of stuff I can't remember. I guess it needs to be thinned out more!

The Library
I've dramatically thinned out my library. I have 2 1/2 bookshelves full (half of one bookshelf holds my DVDs) and about half a storage bin. My cookbooks are kept separately because I am working my way through them. A few books are kept in the living room, but most of those are on probation. I'll revisit my books in a few weeks. I know some are waiting to be read, and then can be donated.

Storage
There is a storage unit attached to the apartment - it's the same size on the new one as it was on the old one. At the old place it was packed hip-deep right to the door. Now? I can walk to the shelf against the back wall. Granted, there are things stacked on 3 walls, but there is also a small pathway. And I've put most of the metal bi-fold doors out there as well. I really dislike those doors, and have replaced them all with white sheets hung from tension rods. I do need to hem the sheets, but they work nicely and look great. Plus I can actually reach what is in the closets!

Out:
  • 3 more 13-gal trash bags of donations
  • 2 paper grocer bags of books
In:
  • rack for my closet (needed for organization)
  • 2 pairs shorts (needed)