Woohoo! The Living Room!

I wasn't bored yesterday. Nope, I just put on Season 2 of 'Supernatural' and thought, 'I might get in and clean up that crap in front of the entertainment unit.' And well, it kinda took off from there.

The next thing I knew I had a huge bag of rubbish sitting by the door waiting to be taken out and another bag of donations waiting in the Donation Box and the floor was clear in front of the entertainment unit - and the second episode on disk two was playing of my favourite show. 

Well! I kept going... seeing how far I could go before the other two shows were finished! 

This was so much fun to just let my hands do the talking and enjoy my decluttering without thinking too much about it. I even looked at all my knitting yarn and when I came across some that I hadn't used - and knew it wasn't good quality - I just threw it away! Small balls of yarn which wouldn't make a beanie? Yep, in the bin! I did this mainly because I had bought that yarn at a charity store and it was sent there because it junk in the first place.

I shredded up receipts, empty envelopes and other things I didn't need in my house and threw them out! And it felt great! 

And you know something? It wasn't just yesterday this happened - nope, it wasn't just a one-off thing! 

This morning, I pulled everything from behind my living room chair and filled another rubbish bag with crap too! Oh my gods! This feels great! I think it's because it's Spring here; and I'm hoping to get this house cleaner. 

I'm not sure - but it feels great to get this place tidy. My head and mind are just ordering me around to clean up the place before Christmas. And it all began with me polishing the kitchen table - how strange is that? How is your place going? 

Home Office Declutter

Well, It's been a couple of months since I began my home office declutter and clean up - and you know, it's been going really well!

I've moved a huge bookcase from one side of the room to the other side of the room - and in turn it was really swapping sides with a hand-made desk Grandpa made (which isn't much use to anyone but to hold things in it like stationery - which it's going to do for my in the end anyway.

Then, I got out a shredder my Aunty Helen won at a raffle for me and I have filled 3 big rubbish bags full of paper from over 7 years ago... well over 7 years ago! And that's emptied the top drawer of my filing cabinet - which Dad wants. So, that's one big item from my office gone! Yay! I don't have to do anything, just wait until Dad comes to collect it! Isn't that great? Well, for me it is! 

And now, I've just bought myself a foot rest from Office Works to get myself ready for the new desk I'm hoping to get for myself to replace this whopping big desk with a normal-sized student desk so I can have more wall space to hang some book art. Plus, I can get some floor space back. 

Thus far, from this office, I've thrown out about 4 bags of rubbish into the bin outside - and this is good. But it doesn't look like I've even dented this room; and you know, it's mainly because all of this came from the filing cabinet. Once that's finished up, I'll be making some real space from the other things in this room. Once I get the stationery which is sitting around this place into the home-made desk, this office will look and feel so much better! 

So, how is your home decluttering going? All good? Mine is going well, and it's been fun using a shredder! 

Went Looking For Something

The other day, I went looking for something under my stairs - where there's a storage facility. I'm pretty good with mine - it's got what I need in there and I clean it out once a year.

Well, I was looking for an old suitcase - a big one - and found it at the back. Great for me because I didn't have to spend money and time looking for another one. And this one was so old it wasn't much use for overseas trips anymore. 
I thought it would be a good idea to get in and toss out what I didn't need anymore in there too. So, on went the headlamp (yes I own one just in case there's a power outage in my area) and I got to work. 

Things were pulled out from there - a 3-step ladder, 2 tables, a folding chair, a tall art table (I've yet to use because I don't have the space) and a hammock I bought yonks ago but haven't used due to space problems... then I grabbed the suitcase and pulled that out. 

It was heavy - which meant it had other suitcases inside it. So, I had a choice! Great! I took it out into the small space of a living room and unzipped it... pulled out the other two inside it and immediately made my choice of taking the larger outside one due to the space I thought I'd need. 

It was then I decided to not put a few things back. But my hands began to itch. Something here was made from bamboo (something I've found I'm allergic to in the past year). Looking around, I counted off what would and wouldn't have been made from the stuff, and realised straight away it was the hammock. Damn I knew I should have worn cotton gloves! I spent a very uncomfortable night with swelling under my arms (where that damned thing came in contact with my skin) and itchiness all over.

Yesterday, I found my cotton gloves and put the hammock into the car... but I did forget them on the way to Vinnies and had to ask for help getting it out of the car. The people there remembered I was allergic and understood why I asked for help.

It's good to get rid of something I no longer need. It makes room for one of the items I acquired recently. Now... to find space for the vacuum. Oh well, I guess I can't win no matter how much I tidy, right? I can only keep on going with cleaning out. 

So, how is your place going. Keep us updated. 

House Sitting Next Year

Yes! I'm going to do a spot of house-sitting early next year; and so I really must get into cleaning my place out in a big way. 

I have been cleaning it out - don't get me wrong. Things have been donated, I've been using the cute little shredder in the home office (and it's been going gang-busters!). But really, I have to get in and do some really serious cleaning out in a huge way and be brutal about my house. 

It's something I've been lacking lately - mainly because I'm busily working away on my arts. This isn't an excuse. This is the busiest time of the year for me with my artistic pursuits; and I do let the house go to hell a little.

So, this week is going to be the week where I get in and do some serious cleaning out of a fair bit of the place and put into place some big habits I've been meaning to do.

Washing Up Before I Go To Bed 

This is a big one. I'm getting to a point where I don't like leaving things until the next day. And it's nice to wake up to a clean kitchen where everything is in its place.

Tidy Up The Living Room Before Bed

Another one for the next morning. I am hoping to get into a habit of working on having a tidy living room; which is something I haven't had in a while. Sure I have a tidy bathroom and a tidy kitchen (not counting the washing up lately) but this room isn't my best one.

To Throw Out or Donate 

Now, this isn't something I've been doing lately. But I do have my Donation Box almost filled to the brim. And all I have to do is sort through it now and bag it all up and take it to the local charity store - and do it more often. 

Laundry 

Oh man... I have to make this a habit. I do my laundry, but putting it away is something I don't do the habit of. It just sits around and gets in my way. So, I must get into the habit of putting away my laundry on the day it's pulled off the line. 

So, what habits are you lazy about? You know mine - and that I must work on them. 

I've Been Away!

I know, I've been away... but it doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about what you've all been up to - or been working away on my house.

My internet was cut off to make way for the National Broadband Network; and getting onto this new network took a bit of time to get done. There was two separate days of me being at home for two different tradesmen to get in the work on my place. And now, my Netflix doesn't work... but not to worry, I'll get onto that too.

Since the last time you all heard from me, I won a little shredder and have been shredding to my heart's content! So far, I've tossed out two big rubbish bags of shredded bags into the bin! Both these bags are from my 2-drawer filing cabinet - which I'm getting rid of in a few months! 

This is so exciting!

Well, I'm looking forward to this!

Otherwise, I've moved the big bookcase in the home office and got it to swap positions with Grandpa's handmade desk. It took some doing, but it all looks great! More light comes into the room now and I'm looking forward to saving up some money and buying a smaller desk which is just a simple student desk with drawers. I do need to replace an old bookcase and move another bookcase. But this will all take time... and this is something I have.

Otherwise, I've been cleaning out downstairs too. There's coffee mugs I've put into the donation bin and I've replaced my pen boxes with pretty little planter pots which were too pretty to put plants into - and were very cheap. Things are getting sorted and tossed out in my place at a swift rate; and I'm so pleased with my progress.

So, how is your house going? Do leave a comment and let us all know. It'd be good to swap notes on how you're all doing.

So Many Old Things

Wow! Just wow! I jumped into the home office wardrobe yesterday and really did a great thing! I pulled down everything I could get my hands on and filled 4 rubbish bags with junk, unusable things, pay receipts from 1996/7 and other things which I just simply didn't need anymore and tossed them away.

There were two collapsed concertina folders which were thrown into the bin and one which was still usable and one I'm still looking at to go through.

Then, I pulled down both boxes which were being stored for my Doc Marten shoes. Yes, I have two pairs of those. One I wear all the time, and the other pair which the company gave me for taking too long to repair the original UK-made pair. Well, I polished up the new pair and made them look lovely - now I just have to break them in for next year. 

I sorted through so much yesterday that after 3 hours, I had a full wheelie bin outside, and an empty wardrobe inside my house! How cool is that? I had the space to put my archive boxes which are now storing my current records for my car, banking files and other things as well. I also put away a few other things and cleared off the Reading Chair and found another bag of crap I need to go through - which takes it to 5 bags I need to go through now; but then, really I shouldn't be counting.

I'm on week 3 of cleaning out this room for the very first time, and I'm really happy that I've filled the wheelie bin (the one the local council collects) to the brim. It really is a great feeling to get rid of all of that is not need any longer and keep only what's going to relevant in my life. 

The hunt has been going on to find a good, old-fashioned desk and a nice solid bookcase to replace the corner desk and the saggy bookcase in my office... then? Well, once the home office is all tidied up and the art gear is off the walls, I'll get in and work on getting the books out of here and see how far I can really take this whole thing before I have to ask family for help moving things. 

So, how is your projects going? All great I hope. Do leave a comment on your project. We'd love to hear how your decluttering is going.

Searching and Donating

Well, the office renovation is under way! 

I have tossed out 2 bags of rubbish from the office - which totals up to a big bag of rubbish into the wheelie bin outside. And I have also donated my old kettle to the local charity as my new kettle arrived from Fly Buys - how cool is that?

There's 2 more bags I've taken downstairs to clean out this afternoon, and that'll clear more space from the home office.

Meanwhile, in the past few days, I've been going out and looking around for a desk and bookcase at op-shops and discount furniture stores. It's slow-going - as it always is at the beginning - but I'm positive I'll find what I'm looking for over the next three months. 

You see, I've given myself three months to clean out the home office completely and fix it up with the two newish pieces so I'm not rushing through it all. You have to be realistic about this kind of thing with cleaning out your place fully. 

First it started in my kitchen. I cleaned that out completely and it took me almost a year to get that area of my house working properly. Then, it was my bedroom and bathroom - together - and between those two rooms, I got them working well over another year. 

The living room is a work in progress; seeing I use it all the time and it's a high-traffic area. 

My garden has been completely gutted and cleared up to the point that it only needs to be maintained every Winter; something I'm really happy with. 

Now, the Home Office is the one room which is always in danger of turning into a Junk Room - and this is something I really don't want. So, cleaning it out over the next three months is going to do me good.
The air-conditioner was one of the big things which just had to be cleared out - an then after that, well, it's begun to snowball in the cleaning out process in a slow way, but still, it's been working out for me. 

Plus, the Home Office is the last room I've decided to tackle because it's the hardest room on the list. 

So, which room is your hardest room you've been putting off? Are you dealing with it right now? Or have you been putting it off like I have?