Back in January I decided to declare this year the "Year of Organization". Our house had gotten a little out of control with the clutter, and we have an impending addition to the family, so it became obvious to me that getting organized was going to be of major importance. OK, so being organized is ALWAYS important to me... now it was going to become imperative for the entire family.
It started with (finally) moving Tyler into his new room. His room was formerly known as the guest/craft room, which really meant it was full of junk. As evidenced in a
previous post, Tyler now has a very nice, organized room. All of the junk was cleared out. There was no where left for it to go - all the other places junk could possibly be put (attic, garage) were already full. I did manage to convince Steve that I needed a new home for my crafting, which is what began the overhaul of the laundry area in the basement. Walls and floor were painted in an attempt to keep the water out, and generally freshen up the area. Steve and my dad built a new set of shelves over the washer and dryer which greatly increased the storage space, plus the shelves that used to hold the supplies when they were in Tyler's closet moved to another wall in the basement space. Progress in this area has been kind of fitful, but it's really coming along nicely. I still have to sort through almost ten years' worth of
Martha Stewart Living and
Real Simple magazines. Steve has promised to put up more lights and add some outlets for me (isn't it great to be married to an electrical engineer?). There is also a plan to make a back splash behind the utility sink with peg board, and to change the faucet. Let's just say I'm not holding my breath on the back splash, but I am hopeful about the other plans.
A few weeks ago I got
this book out from the library after seeing Peter Walsh on an episode of the Oprah Show. I shared it with Steve and we both decided that his plan was exactly what we needed for our house to be free of the clutter. We each began spending about 30 minutes each day on the "Clean Sweep" - removing the easy stuff. This past weekend we had our first major clean out. My parents graciously agreed to take Tyler for an overnight on Saturday so we could really get some major work done. We decided the focus would be our bedroom. I am so proud of the results of our efforts. Not only did we manage to clean ALL of the junk out of our room, we also went through our nightstands and dressers, set up the cradle, and cleaned out the nursery, too. We even had enough time to take my car to the car wash to have the outside AND inside washed, install the baby car seat, removed all but one rosebush from the front yard (and found new homes in the back for four of them, still have two plus the one in the front looking for homes - any takers?), and organize the electronics drawer in the desk! Getting out the car seat and cleaning out the nursery meant a few forays into the attic, so that space got a little bit of attention in the organization department as well.
All this cleaning has become a bit addictive for us. We're having such a great time clearing out all of the clutter, and it's so nice to have the house clean. Order is being restored. And did I mention how much happier we are? It's even helping Tyler - the struggles to get him to cooperate with picking up have been nearly eliminated and he's just much more cooperative in general. Kids sure do love structure and routine.
