Chapter 4 – Christmas
The
next break and the next big projects came at Christmas time. I tackled the linen closet which was
overflowing and sloppy looking. Anything
stained or torn went out. Then I sorted
the sheets by size and kept only 2-3 for each bed in the house. Then I kept however many towels fit in the
remaining space. This is called the
container concept, another idea from Nony the Slob. You set a space for certain items whether
it’s a shelf, a closet, or a drawer and you keep however many items fit in the
space. This forces you to choose between
good, better, and best. I think I still
have too many towels, but at least they all fit neatly in the closet.
I
also used the container concept when I tackled the craft room. My mom had been an artist and craft collector. When she died I sorted through her large
craft room and shed giving away any items that I felt I would never use, but I
kept everything I thought my daughters or I would ever possibly want which
amounted to a large collection of stuff.
As I looked at the over 100 cross-stitch kits I owned, I decided to keep
only as many as fit in a certain drawer and only if I felt I might truly want
to complete them one day. The rest I sat
aside to sell. Then I looked at my two
large overflowing tubs of yarn. I sorted
them down to one tub. I continued this
process as I made my way around the room.
I also eliminated excessive multiples.
I decided, for instance, that five watercolor sets was enough and
donated the rest. As you can see I still
kept plenty of supplies to keep my girls happily creating art for years to
come. This room took about four days and
I donated at least eight bags. I also
sorted out things to sell. I am not a
big fan of selling my stuff. I don’t
like all the work involved, but I decided to put things in groups and list them
on a local website. I did get a little
spending cash this way. My youngest daughter helped me put the finishing
touches on the art room as we labeled drawers and shelves in hopes that things
would be easier to find and put back away.
As soon as we were done she dove into a new art project. As it turns out a clean space is more
inspiring than a messy one.
The
next project turned out to be totally fun.
I decided it was time to tackle my oldest daughter’s room. She has the smallest bedroom and it was
crammed with toys, clothes, and books. On
top of this, she loves her stuff. This
time I used an idea from “The Minimalists” and we held a packing party. I told my daughter that we were going to
pretend she was moving to a new house and we had to pack up all of her
stuff. I had her take everything out of
one drawer or shelf at a time. I added
my own twist to the idea by having her put each item into either a box labeled
‘love it’, a box labeled ‘like it’, a bag for give away, or the trash can. Most items went into the first two boxes (and
more boxes with the same labels) but she did collect one bag to give away and
we found some trash. When she took a
break I worked extra hard and pre-sorted some items for her. I eliminated unnecessary multiples, toys that
never saw the light of day, and old school papers. I also sorted through her bookshelves myself
since this was too emotional for her. I
moved some books to her younger sister’s room and some to a local program for
teen parents. As we worked I found lots
of stuff that did not belong in her room.
I had stored memorabilia including her baby book in her closet. Her sister had numerous clothes and toys
hidden here and there. All these items
were relocated. When we started this
project I anticipated that we would put all the ‘love it’ items back and then
make choices about what ‘like it’ stuff would fit. As it turned out, we were able to find places
for everything that was left. I sorted
toys into semi-logical groups and put like items together. We even labeled the drawers and shelves. The end result was amazing! Her room no longer looked like a thrift store
had blown up. Now it was roomy,
organized, and ready to use. My daughter
loved her new room. My younger daughter thought it looked like fun so we
followed the same procedure in her room and created a new, play-friendly place
there as well.
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