Clutter be-gone!
You know how you run head-on into real life and in turn stress on a daily basis? I do.
It's hard being artistic. Don't laugh. I'm serious.
Artistic people are naturally messier. We all have ADD and can't focus on one project at a time.
Growing up being the only artistic person in the house is a hard thing to do!
That was my life... with the bedroom where you can barely see the floor... the rest of the family referred to my space as 'the garbage bin'... which still hurts to this day. I can't tell you how many times I would find some random items that weren't mine just dumped in my room.
People think we are so messy we don't know what we have... Don't be fooled. That mess is organized in our head. We know where everything is, because generally we have photographic memories.
I have 'cleaned up my act' so to speak in the last 5 or so years... Yes you can see my floor.
Becoming a mistress of your own house does that to you, but having a house plus needing to clean it and being hit with DIY fever is hard to juggle!
Not to mention being at work every day for 9 hours... Oh and did I mention two messy-bessy puppies?
It's weird going from living with your Mom to living on your own and still having cleanliness standards... It takes years of practice to juggle your time. I am only recently starting to understand how to juggle time.
Here's a few tips for all you that regularly get plagued with the DIY fever;
- Keep in-progress items and their counter-parts out of site when you don't have time
- Pick one room that drives you up the wall when it is messy, and keep that clean... like a boss
- We would all love to have a workshop... but if you don't have one you need to seriously start looking at what kind of storage space you have for those 'one day to fix-up' items you hold on to so dearly
- Spend a couple hours one weekend reading de-cluttering books and/or websites - this will motivate you like DIY does
- If you do serious DIY like I do, you love tools... These tools need a place out-of-site... and please, organize them. There is nothing more annoying than your tools being misplaced (when DIY fever takes hold, you must give in or risk frustration)
- Keep regularly used items in tip-top shape... ie. sewing machine - The worst is when you have a sewing machine that won't sew properly and those damn things want to be touched 'lightly' not banged around like you so want to do to them 3/4 of the time
- If you were working on a project and you had to pause for any reason, put those items away so you aren't constantly reminded (wait for the fever to catch you again, or you will just get stressed out)
- MOVING is the perfect time to de-clutter your things
No one wants to come home and immediately stress when you walk in the door.
The first thing my head starts listing is what needs to be done... sofa table because I have no where to put keys/random items that come in with me, bench to put shoes on/off, new bookcase, that thing is hideous, new coffee table - this thing is driving me crazy, argh those dining chairs need to be screwed in, and so on...
My main issue? I'm a natural designer. I can't settle on one idea (2001 ideas later and I finally decide on the first most frugal one...).
I am currently at work for 9 hours a day, and what's worse is that one of my full days is Saturday (like today). I don't have a full weekend to do a project... EVER. I need to cram everything into Sunday and/or Thursday which would be doable if I didn't do so much heavy DIY... I need a helper (who only has weekends off). So Sunday it is. => That is probably the most stressful thing in my life right now (I'm working on changing that)...
So let's simplify this... here are the steps I'm taking in my home to de-clutter hopefully this weekend;
- Finally fix my fallen closet in my bedroom, I shouldn't be so stressed looking for clothes in the morning
- Get rid of clothes that no longer fit (I don't care if I loose the weight tomorrow, it goes today!)
- Get rid of shoes my surgeon told me I am not allowed to wear... if I need shoes for a special occasion I will buy the proper ones
- Get rid of clothes that are damaged (none of these fix-it ideas allowed)
- Get rid of the clothes that I haven't worn in the past little while (I found the best thing for this... ask yourself if you were shopping at this moment, would you buy the item? flawless plan!)
- Get rid of socks with holes... who doesn't hate having a hole in their sock?
- Donate all the fabric that is waiting on a project... if I have a project in mind it can stay but it needs to be done within the year or kaput goes the fabric plans
- Designate a shelf for all things tools
- Go through sheet music... if I don't feel like playing it, it needs to go
- Get rid of old sheets... We no longer have a guest bed, those extras need to go (3 is enough)
- Put the Canadian Tire money in one place, as well as other nic-nacs
- Have a designated place for dog toys, some of them are like stepping on legos... and don't even start me on stepping on a squeaking toy in the middle of the night!
- Fix the bathroom... we have minimal storage to begin with, so it may as well be good
- Throw out shopping bags and boxes from things bought previously... they take up space
- Finish putting up pictures... those extra canvases need to be put away for now
- Organize the new spare room, we never wanted it to become a place for things that don't have a place
- Create bins for the two of us... random things out of place get put in the bin to be put away when there is time so they aren't out creating stress
I believe that completing this list will alleviate some of the tension in my shoulders and help me sleep better... and maybe even get rid of those stress rings around my eyes!
It's hard being artistic. Don't laugh. I'm serious.
Artistic people are naturally messier. We all have ADD and can't focus on one project at a time.
Growing up being the only artistic person in the house is a hard thing to do!
That was my life... with the bedroom where you can barely see the floor... the rest of the family referred to my space as 'the garbage bin'... which still hurts to this day. I can't tell you how many times I would find some random items that weren't mine just dumped in my room.
People think we are so messy we don't know what we have... Don't be fooled. That mess is organized in our head. We know where everything is, because generally we have photographic memories.
I have 'cleaned up my act' so to speak in the last 5 or so years... Yes you can see my floor.
Becoming a mistress of your own house does that to you, but having a house plus needing to clean it and being hit with DIY fever is hard to juggle!
Not to mention being at work every day for 9 hours... Oh and did I mention two messy-bessy puppies?
It's weird going from living with your Mom to living on your own and still having cleanliness standards... It takes years of practice to juggle your time. I am only recently starting to understand how to juggle time.
Here's a few tips for all you that regularly get plagued with the DIY fever;
- Keep in-progress items and their counter-parts out of site when you don't have time
- Pick one room that drives you up the wall when it is messy, and keep that clean... like a boss
- We would all love to have a workshop... but if you don't have one you need to seriously start looking at what kind of storage space you have for those 'one day to fix-up' items you hold on to so dearly
- Spend a couple hours one weekend reading de-cluttering books and/or websites - this will motivate you like DIY does
- If you do serious DIY like I do, you love tools... These tools need a place out-of-site... and please, organize them. There is nothing more annoying than your tools being misplaced (when DIY fever takes hold, you must give in or risk frustration)
- Keep regularly used items in tip-top shape... ie. sewing machine - The worst is when you have a sewing machine that won't sew properly and those damn things want to be touched 'lightly' not banged around like you so want to do to them 3/4 of the time
- If you were working on a project and you had to pause for any reason, put those items away so you aren't constantly reminded (wait for the fever to catch you again, or you will just get stressed out)
- MOVING is the perfect time to de-clutter your things
No one wants to come home and immediately stress when you walk in the door.
The first thing my head starts listing is what needs to be done... sofa table because I have no where to put keys/random items that come in with me, bench to put shoes on/off, new bookcase, that thing is hideous, new coffee table - this thing is driving me crazy, argh those dining chairs need to be screwed in, and so on...
My main issue? I'm a natural designer. I can't settle on one idea (2001 ideas later and I finally decide on the first most frugal one...).
I am currently at work for 9 hours a day, and what's worse is that one of my full days is Saturday (like today). I don't have a full weekend to do a project... EVER. I need to cram everything into Sunday and/or Thursday which would be doable if I didn't do so much heavy DIY... I need a helper (who only has weekends off). So Sunday it is. => That is probably the most stressful thing in my life right now (I'm working on changing that)...
So let's simplify this... here are the steps I'm taking in my home to de-clutter hopefully this weekend;
- Finally fix my fallen closet in my bedroom, I shouldn't be so stressed looking for clothes in the morning
- Get rid of clothes that no longer fit (I don't care if I loose the weight tomorrow, it goes today!)
- Get rid of shoes my surgeon told me I am not allowed to wear... if I need shoes for a special occasion I will buy the proper ones
- Get rid of clothes that are damaged (none of these fix-it ideas allowed)
- Get rid of the clothes that I haven't worn in the past little while (I found the best thing for this... ask yourself if you were shopping at this moment, would you buy the item? flawless plan!)
- Get rid of socks with holes... who doesn't hate having a hole in their sock?
- Donate all the fabric that is waiting on a project... if I have a project in mind it can stay but it needs to be done within the year or kaput goes the fabric plans
- Designate a shelf for all things tools
- Go through sheet music... if I don't feel like playing it, it needs to go
- Get rid of old sheets... We no longer have a guest bed, those extras need to go (3 is enough)
- Put the Canadian Tire money in one place, as well as other nic-nacs
- Have a designated place for dog toys, some of them are like stepping on legos... and don't even start me on stepping on a squeaking toy in the middle of the night!
- Fix the bathroom... we have minimal storage to begin with, so it may as well be good
- Throw out shopping bags and boxes from things bought previously... they take up space
- Finish putting up pictures... those extra canvases need to be put away for now
- Organize the new spare room, we never wanted it to become a place for things that don't have a place
- Create bins for the two of us... random things out of place get put in the bin to be put away when there is time so they aren't out creating stress
I believe that completing this list will alleviate some of the tension in my shoulders and help me sleep better... and maybe even get rid of those stress rings around my eyes!
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