Organizing and decluttering the homestead

[treerooted]

@frustratedearthmother Oh wow, ya, that's a scary close call for sure!

Since we've "just" moved we're trying to get started on the right foot. I want to be able to find things!

 

[Beekissed]

Cleared out another area of clutter in my bedroom today...been meaning to upholster a rocking chair seat for 5 yrs now but just never got around to doing it. The materials have been piled up on it for a month now, so I finally worked on it while listening to some good preaching.

Used a cushion from an old chaise lounge and some material I had here from another project. I got this chair at a yard sale for $5 back in the 90s and it's went through several transitions since then but I stripped it down to bare bones 5 yrs back and just never got back to it.

This chair is my catch all in my bedroom and also serves as a place to sit if I have a visitor there...usually my ol' Ma, sitting there planning our day.

Feels good to have it cleared off and that little job done.....slowly working down my list!

 

[treerooted]

Looks lovely!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That looks fantastic!

 

[tortoise]

I have the same carpet! Chair looks lovely and comfortable!

 

[Beekissed]

I have the same carpet! Chair looks lovely and comfortable!

Good stuff, isn't it? Our is over 20 yrs old and is just now showing some age in the high traffic areas.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

@Beekissed @treerooted @frustratedearthmother @tortoise
Sooo I was reading this thread late last night. And lately, things have gotten so cluttered that it was getting overwhelming. We bought the house last Oct, and my husband moved in, but I was still 900 miles away until our son finished school in June. So we got here at the end of June, and the garden was already overgrown. We had 15 chickens before we could say Boo! (So we built the new big run) Our puppy stopped eating (vet had no idea why), and wasted away to nothing before peacefully passing away on the 4th of July (after 10 days of desperation on our part with syringe feedings, subq fluids, etc). We had a foot of rain the first three weeks I was here. Then my son's new kitten brought in fleas... So we're less than 2 months all in the same house again, and we've been sooo busy. So most of my stuff is still in boxes in the garage.
Anyway, last night I was having my own little private panic attack and I sat up and read this thread. It was just what I needed! I got up this morning raring to go! So here's a few things I accomplished today:
Bible study, and read 7 chapters of 1Cor.
cut up the peppers sitting on my cupboard, and put them in vinegar and garlic in the fridge for my husband,
put away the folded laundry that was sitting on the dressers
Rewashed ALL bedding (again) for fleas) I had been hanging them on the line, but this time everything went in the dryer.
ALL area rugs washed and dried. Cat treated again. Everything sprayed, swept, tossed.
took the cloth couch and chair and dining room chairs outside on the deck to vacuum and shampoo to keep the cat from reinfesting them (or getting reinfested by them). (Haven't done shampooed them yet. They are NOT coming back in until they are flea free!
Meanwhile, I organized the living room, my and my husband's closets, the kitchen counter, and the cupboard that holds our plastic, and the dining room (I found the table!!) Then I went out and added netting over another section of the old dog run so I can separate the laying hens from the non-layers. (They don't all need the most expensive food).
I visited with one elderly neighbor, and dropped off some eggs at another. Supper was a pbj sandwich but my husband is out of town until Sunday, so I could get away with that. (I didn't want to have to stop for meals and dishes.)
I hung out and later folded a bunch of blankets we washed for the animal shelter we've been volunteering at.
I removed the 3 foot high piles of grass I cut down in the garden a few days ago, and turned the compost pile. (Most stuff goes in the chicken run now thanks to a marvelous suggestion here!)
Of course, getting this stuff done means I didn't get other stuff done that really needs to be done, like burning brush and cutting up and removing the 2 big pecan branches that fell recently, cutting the lawn, cutting our friend's lawn (he's deployed for a year), doing the dishes, seasoning my cast iron pans, getting the garden tilled and replanted for fall. Ugh! Always so much to do, so little time. But being organized definitely helps! At least tonight I'm not panicking.
My son worked all day reorganizing and hooking up all his computer and music stuff so the cords no longer crisscrossed the living room. We don't have tv, but he repairs computers and they were everywhere.
Anyhow, I feel sooo much better tonight! Tired, but sooo much more organized. Here are a few before and after pics.

 

[Beekissed]

WOWZA!!!!! You got busy, girl!!!!! I'm like you...I don't like to stop to eat when I'm on a roll, so usually forego it or stuff something in my mouth as I'm moving through.

Good job and congratulations!!! I love that feeling of decompression that comes with getting long put off chores done and clearing a path through the clutter in rooms and buildings. There's nothing quite like that feeling of relief, pride, joy, and just relief! I hope to get to see more of your clearing out work shown here....it inspires me to go forward and not get lost in the struggle.

Our lists are never ending for these kind of tasks....does anyone ever get done organizing and decluttering their lives? I've never met anyone like that, though I strive to be the first one that I know!

I was listening to a vid on FB yesterday where a military guy was giving a ceremonial address and he started out with giving life advice...the first was to make your bed every morning. Said that it's one task done and you feel like you've accomplished something. Said, then if you have a bad day, you can come home to a neat, smooth bed and that always makes you feel a bit better.

He's right and my mother drilled that into me and I tried to drill it into my own boys~it didn't work, even though they were all in the military at some point or other. I LOVE the concept of a made bed....back in the soddy and cabin days, it kept bugs and dirt from falling from the ceiling and walls into your bedding, which can result in nasty surprises in the night.

It also keeps your sheets and pillow cases dryer on humid days, so you aren't crawling into damp bedding. When the rest of your room is messy, that neatly made bed can help cancel out the first impression one would get of that space.

I use the made bed as a launching pad for sorting out the rest of the room..sort of like a work bench. Last, but not least, it just feels sumptuous to come to your bed tired and sore, fresh from the shower and slide into the smooth, cool sheets of a neatly made bed. Nothing like that and it feels GOOD.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Yes. I make the bed every morning. Even better, on the really beautiful days, I hang the blanket out on the clothesline in the sun for an hour or so to air out. I like to put my pillow cases out too. The bed smells so fresh!

 

[sumi]

I make my bed every day, if it's the one thing I manage to get done! lol Right now I am on a major declutter spree here, moving house soon So I have the most wonderful excuse to have a good clear out. I emptied my clothes cupboard yesterday and only put about 1/4 of the clothes back. Decided to go through it hard and only keep what I am 100% sure I WILL definitely wear. DS's clothes got half-done. I need to finish that task today. Then onto what is next, probably the spare bedroom/store room.