Operation: Simplify

The links in this post may be affiliate links.  That means that if you click them and make a purchase, this site makes a commission.  It will have no impact on the price you pay or the experience of your purchase.

We have too much stuff.

More books than bookshelves.

More DVDs than storage.

More clothes than closet.

More tchotchkes than surfaces.

And yes, even more shoes than we need.

I've decided, inpsired partly by my current scrapping challenge (more on that later), that it's time for our house to purge and simplify.

I've invited my mom over next Sunday to remove *half* the clothes from my closet… I got rid of the stuff that didn't fit a while back, but there's still just too much. I need to start getting rid of things that still technically fit, but that I don't wear or just don't need.
Because I have so many clothes, I can easily go three or more weeks before needing to do laundry… a pile of three weeks' worth of laundry is way daunting and is why I have so much trouble keeping on top of it. I figure that by removing half the items from the equation, I'll have to do laundry more often, keeping our room more organized and (hopefully) clutter under control.

After our room is “fixed” (I'm hoping to get Jamie to do his clothes as well… with his diet going so well, he's got lots of clothes that don't quite fit anymore! LOL) I am planning to move onto the guest room… this will eventually be future baby's nursery, so anything I can do now to get it under control is good. That room has basically been a dumping ground for all the “stuff” we don't have a home for, and it's starting to show. I want to get rid of a lot of the books that are in there (I'm planning on joining Paperback Swap.com to get rid of some and bring in some stuff we might actually *want* to read.)

I'm a little leery of doing a big scrap supply purge, since I've been scrapping so much and shopping is verboten. I've got some stuff I know I can rid of (albums, several inches of paper I'll just never use, the random things I've collected with plans to alter them and never gotten around to, that kind of thing…) but overall I don't want to do the huge kind of clear-out I did about 18 months ago. I've been doing OK with keeping the office under control, but I think I can really get it in good shape in an afternoon or so. The closet in the office, OTOH, will be a project in and of itself… lots of old computer junk and assorted crap and I've just never really tried to get the whole thing organized.

That covers the three rooms upstairs; the bathroom and little cabinet we have up there won't take long at all… I might even be able to get Jamie to finish the baseboards up in the hallway, which we've never gotten around to doing in almost three years.

Downstairs gets cleaned the most… the downstairs closet is kind of a mess, but otherwise it could be a lot worse. I do need to tackle the wicker chest in the living room and give everything a good dusting. I've still got a couple of empty frames in the living room, so I'll get pics in those, and we should be in good shape!

I hate hate hate how disorganized my life and home has become… I'm not a naturally organized person; my natural inclination isn't to put dinner dishes directly in the dishwasher, I'm much more likely to put them in the sink and leave them until I get fed up, run out of dishes or they start to stink (Eew!)

I am trying to fix these things that I don't like about myself… I'm fully aware that when my house is clean, I feel more in control of *everything* in my life. I know that I am the only one who has the power to fix these things.

I'm hoping that by putting this all out there, by getting it down in writing, I'll stick to it. Only time will tell!

As for an update on my scrapbook spending… I'm still in the clear! I managed to resist the new Making Memories Noteworthy line, Basic Grey chipboard books, American Crafts letter stickers AND Maya Road trims and new albums! Next week'll be hard too, with the new shipment of Thickers coming in… I'm out of vowels on a couple of my colors, so expect to see more of that random font look on my pages! LOL

…and I think this might be my longest blog post ever! LOL