clutter
i should have started deep cleaning back in January when i was excited about it but instead all i’ve accomplished so far in this month’s 30 day challenge is to complain about the disorganized messes and make more of them. I believe i subconsciously chose February for my month of deep cleaning 1 corner at a time because it is the shortest month. Maybe i should just hire cleaners?? if i could i might. i’m a pretty good surface cleaner throughout the year so it’s not like we’re living in filth of any kind but it’s the clutter and accumulation of things i’d like to wrangle and this i must do with my own hands. the kid’s art cupboard and my studio closet both need a deep clean and purge, the abundance of toys needs to be reorganized and given away, my minimal and yet dated wardrobe needs complete clearing (i still haven’t the heart to get rid of some of the boys old clothes), old journals need shredding (i’m talking old like grade 2-12), recipes need to be rewritten and sleeved and that drawer in the kitchen with the landlord’s junk mail in it….time to take that over! i’ll be happy to accomplish this list of to do’s and i’ll call February challenge a success!
the art cupboard is just not that user friendly these days and more often not things are chucked in and the door promptly shut with the mantra ”later”and so much of it doesn’t need to be there anymore ;
i’m pretty sure i could make much better use of this storage space but i need to go through the itty bitty old stuff in those drawers, move some spiders out and recycle the heaps of wrapping papers that have been dropped in behind the shelf out of sight out of mind. i sure would love to replace those plastic drawers too…
friends and family we have maxed out on beautiful and awesome toys! i need to encourage activities in lieu of gifts in the years to come. while the boys interests have shifted over the past year the play space has not and i realize that Little A is finished with things that Little M is not quite ready for. now is a good time to reorganize, donate and store the lesser used toys. lego has recently infiltrated our home. the older boy really loves it and so somehow i would like to create space for it in a way that also appeases my feng shui. Suggestions?!
i really hope i have some organized corners to show by month’s end… i did mop the kitchen floor today.
llooovvveeee this month challenge…this is totally my style
I should maybe take some pictures?
the knitting, last month, was however an epic fail!
Comment by Claudia — February 13, 2013 @ 6:20 pm
Ohh dear this is my constant challenge all year long such a difficult one… about the leggo place it on a really nice basket it make all the difference easy out easy in and if you place it in a book case chances are you won’t even see the contents just the pretty basket!
Comment by Lina — February 13, 2013 @ 6:51 pm
yay, you have clutter too! I always assumed you didn’t from your beautiful photos. I don’t feel quite so bad now (though my clutter is most definitely worse than yours!) x
Comment by Louise Gibbens — February 14, 2013 @ 7:52 am
The legos are a constant clutter battle in our home. They have to stay in his room (otherwise the dog thinks they are nice chewies or mom steps on one ). He has a small shelf for his latest creation or two but all other legos are in a plastic toy bin. He keeps his lego guys in a separate plastic bin.
Comment by Erin — February 14, 2013 @ 8:17 am
Lego - I’ll look through and seem to remember seeing a large circular double sided playmat with a drawstring around it, large enough for children to sit on and with enough cord to completely flatten it out. The one I saw had roads appliqued on and patches of grass to make houses etc - then when finished you just left all the lego inside and pulled up the drawstring making a big bag. I can completely see you doing that.
I have been in a similar frame of mind and my pantry and art cupboard are both “later” tasks. Of late its just been too hot here to tackle.
Comment by victoria — February 14, 2013 @ 3:41 pm
If you sell any of those beautiful toys, please let me know
Good luck with your purge and deep clean, I am doing the same right now…..
Comment by Kate — February 14, 2013 @ 6:40 pm
I, too, saw the circular mat with drawstring for lego and thought the idea was genious. You could make something that appealed to both you and A, and then it’s just a quick pull on the string and it’s all tidied up.
Way to go for getting into the corners of stuff. I’ve been gathering bags for the thrift and making ruthless decisions…once you get on a roll it becomes easier and it’s so satisfying. Especially cutting down on the toys. Lightness heading into spring…
xo.
Comment by gwen — February 14, 2013 @ 11:43 pm
I’ve been battling cold and flu bugs for most of February so far, and haven’t tackled a singe thing! I think I may have to devote March to the deep cleaning… I keep looking at all the crap piled in front of my basement door and think of fire hazards. Yikes!
The toy thing is so hard! My youngest has so many beautiful toys, that frankly, hardly get looked at. And my son has been in Legoland for a few years now. The amount of Lego in my house is - no exaggeration - astounding. We have the Trofast system from Ikea for all of it, but usually, it is displayed on his shelves and set up all over the huge kitchen table in his bedroom and all over his floor. It never ends! But he loves it so much I don’t have the heart or desire to tell him to purge any of it. (plus it’s damn expensive!)
Good luck with your deep cleaning! February isn’t over yet, so I just may get my basement doorway cleared after all…or maybe my February Deep Cleaning challenge is meant to be about cleaning the bad bugs out of our bodies?? That’s certainly what it feels like right now!
Comment by Bonnie — February 15, 2013 @ 11:57 am
oh this post is so refreshing, i was beginning to feel i was the only person struggling to declutter and organise and that the rest of blog world mums were living in shabby chic heaven adorned with vintage bunting! i haven’t even mopped oh and my ensuite wall fell down this week!
Comment by jane@flightplatformliving — February 17, 2013 @ 10:45 am
Lego is BIG at our house with my son and husband. We use the Lay-n-go play mat with a drawstring. We have the large size- it is about five feet in diameter. It has changed my life. No more spending an hour picking up pieces after my son is in bed. Good luck organizing!
Comment by Tava — February 17, 2013 @ 12:29 pm
A friend’s son is big into Lego. She has a largish table in a corner of a room with a 3 drawer cabinet to the side of it. The table is big enough to hold WIPs and there is still space for a container of lego to be put on the table for searching for pieces. Her son likes to stand so there is no chair there. I like this idea, but I don’t have the space. Often when my son is working on a larger scale project (in the living room) he has to put everything away and then the momentum is lost and the project goes unfinished. If you have the space. I say a table with drawers on the side is the way to go. We also keep mini-figures separate. Big bins just get dumped because it’s hard to search for pieces through layers of Lego.
Comment by Francesca — February 18, 2013 @ 12:22 pm
sigh. i am sucking at this challenge this month, however, i did recruit the boys to carry loads from the top 2 shelves of the hall closet into the living room to be sorted. they liked being “movers” for all of 5 minutes but were bored by my reorganizing. tomorrow is meant to be the only sunny day in a long while. i don’t think i will be cleaning. just being real about it.
Comment by admin — February 18, 2013 @ 8:11 pm
Love this honesty. Yup, I’m with you on this. Trying my hardest to make a short list of cleanables.
Comment by thara — February 22, 2013 @ 11:19 pm