Basement in Need of Organization

I really can't believe I am going to be sharing this! I wouldn't let anybody who visits see my basement yet I am going to be publishing these pictures for anybody to see!

However, I am sharing first of all for accountability since we plan to tackle this space and have it completely organized by the end of April. I am also sharing to hopefully motivate you for your own spring cleaning...it couldn't be worse than this daunting task!!

Here is the basement:

To the left is my laundry area which would definitely not be there if I had my choice but that is where the hookups were. I would like to make that space a little nicer! To the right is all our stuff: Christmas decorations, camping supplies, hunting stuff, crafting stuff, boxes, etc. We need to purge some of this but also put up shelves and organize the things we are going to keep on these shelves!

Close up of the stuff! See the awful two-tone walls?? We have purchased some cinder block paint and need to go ahead and paint the walls and have that job over with too!

On this side of the basement is my husbands toy tractors which we need to go through and decide what we are keeping and organize them, there are also piles of tools & car stuff which we need to organize, these things will probably be organized in the garage instead of the basement area. Notice the doors? Well, they have been down there since December...we took a few doors off the hinges to paint & brought them down to the basement...however it is so much easier to just paint them on the hinges! These doors are to the studio closet & guest room....I am sure our guests love that! These need to be moved upstairs and put back where they belong! We also need to sweep and mop the floor!

So here is the basement to-do list:
*Bring doors upstairs
*Paint the walls
*Sweep and mop basement floor
*Purge "stuff"
*Go through toys & organize
*Organize tools & car stuff & put in garage
*Organize laundry area
*Put up shelves for the stuff we are going to keep

Hopefully on or before May 1 we will be able to report that we have accomplished each of these tasks on this list! I definitely think we can do it, it won't necessarily be fun but it will be well worth it in the end!!

Our Clean Garage

Wednesday I spent a few hours in my horribly unorganized and cluttered garage (sorry there are no before pictures but believe me it was awful!) I am so glad I did! Since the day we purchased our home, we have just been putting stuff in the garage/basement with no rhyme or reason as to where it went because we were focusing on the upstairs of the house (which is more important). But after almost 3 months of entering the house through the garage and thinking 'I have got to do something about this,' I finally did. I had been dreading this day for months, telling myself we have to do this on a weekend because John David has to help but I finally took action and after just a few hours I felt so much better!

This is where John David parks (it's only a 1 car garage :( but that's better than no garage I suppose!) Notice the hole in the dry wall & the 'A'?? The beautification of this space will come later!

My handy freezer & our old refrigerator that is taking up space...need to do something about that!

My dream for this space is to put up a wall where the columns are and create a mud-room type entry here; paint the walls, paint or carpet the stairs, have a nice tile floor, rugs, a storage bench, coat hanger and place to put our muddy shoes!

Tomorrow I will share what lurks on the other side of the door...the scary basement and our game plan for that space!

Discussion Board

I usually get the mail and when I do I open every piece (unless it is from John David's family), put all junk mail and envelopes in the recycle bin, take care of those things that are my responsibility, and lay John David's mail on his desk. He typically comes home and proceeds to push the mail I laid there aside and so he never sees it and we never talk about it (bills, financial statements, etc.) I am sure many of you can relate to this exact scenario.

Well, to solve this problem, we now have the "discussion board"! My friend Jen gave this to me this fall and I knew I could find something clever to do with it and I have!

On this board is a calendar and currently our gas bill. As items that John David needs to look at or we need to discuss arrive, I will tack them up and take a few minutes once or twice a week and discuss them!

Here is the discussion board in relation to the office, it is just inside the door and close to my desk. (Isn't it obvious we still aren't settled, John David's monitor box sitting beside my desk on top of a storage tote, blocking the door with a screwdriver on top!) Hopefully by this weekend everything will be squared away but until then, the discussion board looks great and is serving its purpose keeping us organized!

Wardrobe Basics

Last week I cleaned out my closet! Typically I go through and pull out the things I no longer like. This time I took a different approach, I pulled everything out and put back only the things I love. The things I put back first were the basic wardrobe pieces.

Here is the list of essentials for me:

Bottoms

Dress:
1. Black, Brown, and Tan Pants
2. Black and Brown Knee Length Pencil Skirt
3. Black and Brown Capris

Casual:
1. 2-Pair Khakis
2. 2-Pair Jeans
3. Khaki and Denim Skirt

Tops

Dress:
1. White, Black and Brown Long Sleeve Button-Up
2. White Short Sleeve Button-Up

Casual:
1. White and Black Short Sleeve Tee
2. White and Black Long Sleeve Tee
3. White, Black and Brown Cardigan

Other
1. Black Dress
2. Black and Brown Wool Coat
3. Black Jacket (matches black skirt & pants)
4. Rain Jacket

So these are my basics. I wear at least one of these everyday. I add to this list Spring/Summer Skirts & Dresses and Fall/Winter Skirts & Sweaters as well as solid and printed tops.

The decluttering continues!

I have stayed busy today getting rid of stuff! I am so excited! Early this morning I tackled my closet. I decided instead of going through and picking things I don't want any longer that it would be more effective to go through and pick the items that I really love. So after about an hour and a half and some tough decisions this is what my closet looks like!


The bottoms & dresses!



The tops!



The closet!

Now this is an improvement over what it was definitely. It still is a lot of clothes though (but my spring, summer, fall, and winter clothes are ALL in there) and I still have some other items that were weeded out earlier that I probably won't get rid of so I may be adding a few more items (not everything though!!) I know I am weak to add clothes back that didn't make the cut, but seriously this is half of what was in there.

After lunch I tackled the scrapbook box again and this is everything that I have pulled out of there in the past two days (plus a couple books I am trying to sell!)



Some of this is already listed on Craigslist, the books on half.com, I am going to try to sell some more of it, and give away some of the scrapbook "scraps"!

I'm in the decluttering mode again!

Well I have been in the decluttering mode today since we are moving (more than likely) before the end of the year (John David's been training almost 3 1/2 months and if we were to stay in Columbia we would purchase a home). So I am getting a head start on getting things out of the house before moving day arrives (whenever that may be!)

So this is what I did today:

1. Clothing assessment (Since fall is coming I wanted to know what kind of fall/winter clothes I have.) After this assessment I realized that I have more than enough clothes to get me through the fall & winter so no clothing shopping for me! In fact after carefully going through everything I really need to be getting rid of more clothes...another day for that though!

2. Cleaned out scrapbook items Since I have not been scrapbooking much in over a year I decided that it was silly to have a ton of paper & stickers & other items just sitting so I went through and found several items to sell on craigslist (hopefully!) I listed 50 12x 12 sheets of paper,stickers, and a group of miscellaneous paper, stickers, and letters. I already had an inquiry about the 50 sheets of paper so hopefully I can get some of this sold!

3. Listed a shirt on Craigslist I have been meaning to do this for weeks! I tried to sell one of John David's Twenty X shirts on eBay unsuccessfully so I listed it today finally!

4. Went through books We finally sold ALL of our textbooks through half.com but today I went through the bookshelves to see if there was anything else and found 3 books! Two of them I have listed on half.com and the other, a copy of the 1975 Baptist Hymnal (I have 2), I am trying to figure out what to do with.

I am still in the decluttering mode so no telling what else I may decide is going (the night is still young!)

Productivity!

Well I finally organized/cleaned the studio! We have completely neglected the upkeep in that room because of watching the Olympics every night in there, being out of town, and computer problems so I took a few minutes and organized to surprise him!

Here are the before shots:









Here are the after shots:







Much better! Not perfect but we are not here permanently and the room isn't exactly how we want it so we aren't wasting too much time making it perfect...that will be at the next house!

Productive Monday

Today has been a lovely "workday" for me! I woke up early and got straight to work. I have washed and dried 4 loads of laundry, washed dishes, and cleaned out my desk. I also planned our meals and made a grocery list for my grocery shopping tomorrow...it amazes me how I think we have nothing to eat and then with a little planning I find out we have enough food to last another week if I just go get milk and other staples!

I also began making a list of things to take camping this weekend. We are going white water rafting on the Ocoee this Saturday with Adam and Katie and then camping!! I can't wait although I must admit I am a little scared about the rafting!!

The big project for today was de-cluttering! I began with my bedroom closet last night and pulled out several things to give away! This morning I cleaned out my living room closet and my under the stairs storage area and found several things that we don't need! I love when I am successful at de-cluttering and it makes me feel great about having a clean, organized house with only the things we need in it!

This is what I have gotten rid of from my closet thus far:
1 winter coat
1 hoodie
1 pair of capris
2 pair of pants (khakis and jeans)
1 skirt
1 pair of pj pants
2 dresses
4 shirts

Spring Break

We have had a relaxing Spring Break thus far! Yes, we have slept in but we haven't slept past 9:30 at all (which is a feat for us!!)

My birthday was Tuesday and we had a lovely day! We made my birthday cake together the night before and I was really excited about my cake so we had birthday cake for breakfast!!



My homemade birthday cake! Strawberry cake with cream cheese icing!! Yummy!!





Wednesday I called "Spring Cleaning" day! Since the big moving day is getting closer I wanted to have a pre-moving cleaning day! We had a very successful day cleaning out closets and drawers and I realized that we really do not own a lot of things that we do not need! It was really encouraging to see that we do not have a lot of useless clutter and that we are really living simply!!

Thursday was a relaxing yet productive day! We went to pick up a few items at the store and only bought what was on our list! (This is really exciting too!) We are trying to stay organized by not bringing in new things into our house that we can live without and to live a simple, non materialistic life! We did buy a small bottle of white paint (on our list) to finish a flag that I started in December! When we got home John David finished the flag by stamping the stars!!



This flag is made from a scrap piece of tin from my Grandpa's farm! I think it is beautiful!



I couldn't resist taking a picture of it with my rocking chair!!



We have the flag hanging on our door for now! Hopefully one day soon we can hang it on our barn or front porch!!


John David had an evening job filming for a man who goes to church with us. While he was filming, I did laundry (a week and a half worth at the laundromat!) After getting home from doing laundry I ironed John David's shirts and starched his jeans!

I also got some good news while I was doing my ironing, my cousin Katie called me and told me she was named Star Greenhand for West Tennessee!! (Star Greenhand is for Freshman FFA members, it is based on their Supervised Agriculture Experience Program as well as their involvement in FFA) I am so excited for her! She now will advance to state for the opportunity to be named Tennessee Star Greenhand!! I am so glad that Rebekah and I were able to be involved in the FFA and that Joseph, and Katelyn have become involved too! FFA really has had an impact on our lives!!