Necklace Hanger

A couple of weeks ago, as I was cleaning out my jewelry drawers, I decided that I needed a new system for organizing my necklaces. First off, I don't wear a necklace very often at this point in my life because several of my favorites have been broken by little hands yanking them off my neck while said little one was perched on my hip. They have also been just a jumbled mess in my drawer and I often am rushing out the door! The last thing I have time to stop and do is dig through a tangled wad of necklaces to find the one that goes with whatever outfit I have on. 

In my love affair with Pinterest, I have come across several different hanging necklace organizers that I liked and thought would be fairly easy to make my own. One that I liked was made using a bulletin board. I actually have 3 bulletin boards that I am planning to use for other projects for the kids. Another was a simple piece of wood with screws to hang necklaces on. I am going to use this concept to hang curtains in my bathroom - some day!  The one I liked best used 2 pieces of wood trim and a small piece of wood and upholstery tacks. This is the one I wanted to go with because it is more decorative and eye pleasing. 

Yesterday, my mom, step-dad, Harper and I set out to gather the materials for our necklace hanging project. I kid them that they will stop coming to visit because I always have a list of projects for them, but I secretly think they enjoy it. I am sure they will tell me if they feel differently! We spent what felt like forever on the trim aisle at Home Depot searching for the right pieces that would go together. We ended up buying 2 - 24" pieces of trim, that we cut ourselves right there in the store. We are all about easy so we picked a piece of trim for our top piece that was fairly thick and wouldn't require the extra piece of wood underneath to give it enough height to hang necklaces. 

Here my little worker bees are attaching the two pieces of trim together 

with a little bit of liquid nails and 2 tiny finishing nails.

 

My worker bees get a little crazy!

 I spray painted my board with some spray paint that I already had here at the house. Then this morning, after it was all dry, I nailed in these silver upholstery tacks about 1" apart, staggered from top to bottom. They are far from perfectly straight across and I am actually one short on the top row, but no one is going to sit and stare at this thing and be bothered by that fact, I hope! You can see in the bottom picture the shapes of the 2 pieces of trim we used. You can also see that I attached this to the wall with 3m Command Strips! I love these things. They are so much more forgiving than a nail and the multiple nail holes it usually takes me to get things straight!

  

Finally, the TADA moment! All necklaces hung! 

In plain view, untangled! I love it! Imperfections and all!!

Notice there is a paint swatch painted under the necklaces? - - 

another project hanging in the balance

Onto the next project - - finishing Jenna Beth's room! Reveal to come shortly!

Here are links to the projects that inspired this one:
Necklace organizer bulletin board
Necklace/Jewelry organizer

Simple Saturday - Dresser Drawers

In the spirit of keeping things Simple, here on the blog and in my house, I decided today should be Simple Saturday. I tend to get quite bored on Saturdays at my house. So I turned my boredom into productivity and tackled a few drawers on my dresser. I didn't take a picture of one of the three drawers because I didn't intend to clean it out. I was only going to focus on the middle drawer that has been full of receipts and a wad of cords for months. I don't open this drawer often because there isn't much in it that I ever need. After I emptied it, I decided my two jewelry drawers should be next to each other instead of separated with a drawer between them. They were both overdue for a clean out, too. 

BEFORES

 

The culprit that got this whole thing started! Can you see why I avoid opening this drawer except to stuff my junk into it?

 

This drawer doesn't look that bad, but there are broken pieces of jewelry tucked in here and bracelets that belong in other drawers as well as a hiding place for the tooth fairy. Too bad the tooth fairy doesn't even know who these teeth belong to. Which brings up the question of why I am keeping teeth? Is someone really going to pull these out and look at them ever again? 

AFTERS

 

Does this just make you go aaah? So peaceful! Several ipod/iphone cords got trashed, along with an iPhone case. We haven't had iPhones in over a year. Told you I was a borderline hoarder. I need to put a pair of scissors and maybe another pen or two in this drawer. I am always wanting to find one when I am in my room, but never can find one.

A much better looking jewelry drawer! All that stuff that I had tucked in the front of this drawer either got chunked or moved to another place. I admit there is a bit of a watch graveyard in that compartment with the watches. They all need batteries and will probably work again. Need to buy batteries to see if any of them will work again or if they are junk now.

I weeded out lots of broken bracelets and necklaces out of this drawer. Honestly I rarely wear a bracelet or necklace at this point in my life so I tried to keep things that I think I will wear again. I have plans to make a hanging necklace/bracelet organizer. My "I can make that" list grows. 

I have a baggy of jewelry and silver pieces that I am planning to try to sell. I have never done this before so am really not being optimistic that I will get much cash for the few things that I have. I am more curious about that whole process than anything. I can always bring my stuff back home! 

Can't wait to Simplify the rest of the drawers in this dresser. Love opening cleaned out, uncrowded drawers and being able to see everything in them. Maybe more of this jewelry will be worn now.

Happy Simplifying!

31 Days - Ending Encouragement

(Artwork Courtesy of Donna's Diary)

As we come to the end of this 31 days of Dreaming of Simple and actually doing some Simple, I wanted to leave you with this encouragement if you are overwhelmed or feel like you just can't seem to get Simple figured out. 

Keep going. 

Begin again. 

Try a new plan of attack.

Eat a piece of chocolate.

Go to Pinterest for some inspiration, but not for your reality.

Find what works for you.

Lower your standards if necessary.**

I know now that Simplicity is definitely worth pursuing, no matter how long it takes or how derailed the busyness of life gets me. I will go on. I will fill black trash bags. I will ask beg my friends to take my junk. I will be friends with the garbage man and the guy who answers the bell at Goodwill! I will teach my children that life is much better without the excess. I will throw away junk mail and all the other pieces of paper that fill up my utility sink. It is worth it.

Thanks for joining me in this journey. I hope you have been inspired. I hope you have had fun and had a few laughs. I hope that you will check back in and see where my Dreams take me! 

**A post recently circulated Facebook relating to lowering your standards of cleanliness and order. If you need a good laugh, go HERE to read it. You will laugh out loud!

31 Days - Simple Sharing

Yesterday, I got to share of my abundance with a friend as part of my Simplifying process! I have mentioned my multiple sewing machines and now I am down to 2. I hope that my friend enjoys it and learns so much more about that particular one than I ever did. I hear she has already made a little sleeping bag for one of her daughter's stuffed animals! How fun is that!! As a byproduct, I got to sit and chat with her while our kids played for a couple of hours with no major quarrels. I even introduced them to Little Debbie Cakes.

There are people out there who need or want the things that we have and don't need. Sometimes it just takes a post on Facebook or a friend reading your blog to find out who can love something more than you can at this point in your life. Often the reason I need to Simplify parts of my home or life is because I hold onto things way too tightly. I am learning to let go and finding that there is blessing in letting go!

What can you let go of so that you can be a blessing to someone else?

31 Days - S.O.S

Do you ever ask yourself that question in relation to attempting to get your house in order? I do, especially recently. I feel like I have worked hard the past month in an attempt to Simplify and to try to make my house more manageable. Then we spend the weekend mostly at home and by Sunday afternoon every thing I have put away has been dragged back out and the never easy process of getting things put back in place wears me down! 

Back to the 'Red Room'...From my post earlier, you know that I want to establish the purpose of this room so that as I go through the process of Simplifying it, I only keep those things in it that are part of its purpose. 

Here is the conclusion to which I have come: The 'Red Room' must be a quiet place for Harper to sleep. It must also be an organized, uncluttered place where I store craft supplies that have to do with fabric projects (remember my new sewing machine that is still in the box)! Finally, it will serve as a storage place for necessary home office supply type things. 

Sleep. Office. Sew. - - - I should start calling it the S.O.S. room! 

As I have already been trying to clean out some, I have to be honest and admit that getting rid of scrapbook stuff has been hard. I had a magazine file that was full of pieces of scrapbook paper that had been cut for various projects, but still enough paper to do something else with. It pained me to put that stuff in the trash can! Pain!!! I kept reminding myself that paper is cheap and if there should ever be a time when I need paper for a project, I can buy it for less than $1! Truth is that any time I need paper I buy it regardless without consulting my stash of scraps. 

As I am typing this, I can think of other things that I have kept excessive amounts of - even though I would say I have already cleaned out some storage containers. I have an inordinate amount of pencils! PENCILS! Why?? If an emergency ever happened, I would have plenty to spell out the letters HELP on my roof. No joke! And because I love getting great deals on school supplies, I have enough spiral notebooks to last the kids another couple of years. 

The hardest piece in this room to part with is going to be my red couch. I will start the process of trying to sell it around Thanksgiving. One more set of guests need to sleep on it first. Next time we need an extra bed we will just need to invest in a good air mattress. Actually, our living room couch is quite comfy. I just dread that whole Craigslist/Facebook Consignment process! It's worth it, though, right?!

I also need to figure out a way to move a few pieces out of the S.O.S room so that I can utilize them while Harper sleeps. I am probably going to relocate the printer to my pristine closet and hope that it can still get the wireless signal. If not, I am going to have to get creative! The kids' Xbox and the TV to which it is hooked are on a shelf in there, too. I have a master plan of rearranging the boys' room, which would give me a place to move the Xbox and TV. One small step at a time!

Can't wait until the beloved S.O.S room is totally revamped. 

 

31 Days - Purpose Driven

As I have started a slow process of cleaning up my craft/guest/Harper's sleeping room, I am trying to attack it with Purpose- the purpose of this room at least. 3 years ago we had 3 kids, 2 of whom have always shared a room. Left up to one of them they always will. We specifically wanted a 4th bedroom because we knew the extra room would be great to have down the road.

Initially, we  wanted to make this room a place for guests to sleep when they come. So we bought a sleeper sofa from Ikea. In actuality, we have very few guests come to stay here. Our parents come from out of town maybe 3 times a year. One of those visits is supposed to be happening in the next couple of weeks. It is nice to have a place for guests to put their stuff and shut the door so they have a little privacy. Trust me, with my nosy bunch, privacy is always limited!

Since we had a guest room that we didn't use all that much, I decided I would add a little fun 'craft room' element to the room. Remember, I currently have 3 sewing machines! With my discovery of Pinterest and all the great access to DIY tutorials for every craft project under the sun, I thought this would be the perfect place to get my creative juices going. I dreamed and pinned craft room decor ideas. One weekend, my mom was here so we got to work and got to Ikea! I bought shelves, a fab desk, and some storage containers. It is a lovely arrangement. 

Then, we found out 17 months ago or so that we would be welcoming another little blessing child into our family. Surprise!!! For the first 5 months or so of her life, she slept in our bedroom. Once she started sleeping through the night the majority of the time and wasn't waking up the rest of the little people, we moved her into a crib set up in the oh so crowded 'Red Room.'

Now it is time to rethink the 'Red Room.' 

*  What is the best way to use this space without it being a crowded mess all the time?   

*  What craft projects am I realistically going to do in there or at least with the supplies stored in there?

*  How many headbands am I ever going to get around to making for little Miss Harper?

*  Do I really need to save every old t-shirt the kids grow out of or stain to make a fabric flower? 

*  Since I haven't opened a scrapbook since we moved to El Paso in 2007, do I really need to keep all of the scrapbook paper, embellishments and other scrapbooky things until there is a period in time when I might decide to work on an old fashioned scrapbook?   

*  What furniture can I get rid of or rearrange so that the 'Red Room' has more than 2 feet of open floor space? 

I will be honest, letting go of this room as my own little haven is difficult to do - although it hasn't been much of a haven since it always a wreck! Even the thought of parting with the red couch that gives this room its name makes me antsy. We are just out of space in our current house. Really not complaining, avoiding the inevitable re-purposing of the 'Red Room' can no longer be done! Time to face reality and make some seemingly silly, but difficult decisions about the future of this one room. 

Do you have a room in your house whose purpose needs to be rethought? Are you holding onto exhausting clutter because like me, you just haven't wanted to admit that a change has to happen?

Come back later to see what I have determined the focused purpose of this room needs to be for now. 

31 Days - Tackle the Nemesis

26 Days in and I have walked by the door to what was once my favorite room in my house, but has become my Simplifying/Organizing Nemesis, and have thought to myself that this room must get some love during the 31 Days thing. So here it is getting its much deserved Simplifying spotlight!

When we moved into this house, we loved having this extra bedroom. We wanted this to be a guest room of sorts, but I also wanted a space to sew and craft. Fast forward 3 years and things have changed a bit. This room now has a crib tucked into it for our 4th little precious child. Having her sleep in here throws all kinds of curve balls! Even attempting to get it cleaned up is a challenge because Harper needs to sleep! 

Not only am I going to work on Simplifying this room, I am also working on a plan to move some furniture around so that I can have access to the printer and a few other items while she sleeps. I am working to define the purpose of this room. Establishing the purpose for this room will help me make the tough decisions of what will stay and what will go. Part of that process is pin pointing where my crafting/project focus needs to be. As much as I would like to think otherwise, I don't have the time, energy or resources to do every project I have pinned on Pinterest!

Here are a few pictures of what it looked like today when I was able to get in there to start conquering the chaos of what we call the Red Room. 

 

View from the door way.

 The red couch that gives the room its name. Too bad it is impossible to sit on the couch!

 This should be the place where fabulous creations are made!

Come back for a great transformation or at least a transformation in progress.

31 Days - Friday Fall Off

Why is the one day of the week, 2 weeks in a row, that I have no real place to be can I not get myself going? Today was an early out for the kids so that just totally threw me for a loop. I don't do well with early outs because I can get a ton done in those last 2 hours of my quasi-childless afternoons. 

The only organizing I did today was cleaning out old coupon inserts! There was a day in my life when I was a Queen Bee Couponer. I would spend Sunday afternoons clipping and filing them away in my neat little organizer. I would look at Hip2Save to see what the best deals at Walgreens and Target were for the week. I'd gather all my coupons up and make my list and be ready to hit the stores on Monday or even later on Sunday afternoon. I loved the thrill of bragging to Jake about how little I had spent out of our account on the bags I would throw on the kitchen table!

Over the past few months or the past year or so really, my routines have changed. One of the  major changes was the birth of precious little Wade #4. My life has never been the same since and I have yet to figure out any sort of routine. Another change was the opening of Aldi in Temple, not far from where our church, Vista Community Church, currently meets or from our Sunday after church eating spot, Taco Cabana. Aldi doesn't accept coupons, but my grocery bill has actually decreased since starting to shop there regularly. After we eat our delicious lunch, Jake will drop me off to get groceries and will cruise around with the kids. It takes me 30 minutes or less to get in and out with a week's worth of groceries. Hence, I don't have such a pressing need to clip coupons. 

I still like getting great deals on whatever I can, but have lost my groove of having a good coupon organizing system. I currently am using a broken face powder because I am too cheap to just go buy a new one! I know if I will put in a few minutes of work searching for a sale and a coupon,I can get what I want for a great deal! My lack of current organization of my coupons hinders me though! So for now, I have decided not to clip every coupon like I once did. I just save the inserts each week (I actually haven't purchased a Sunday paper for coupons in 3 weeks), write the date it came in the paper on the front of it, and file them in a file folder by insert type (red plum, smartsource, etc.). This works okay if I do it. Doesn't everything? 

My hope is that I will figure out something that works for me in my situation. That is how all organizing systems work best  - - what works best for you! I read a little today about this No Clip System today on Fabulessly Frugal and am thinking about giving this type of system a shot. I will still need to figure out what to do with coupons that I print off of sites like Coupons.com or Target's website, though, and also all of the random coupons that I clip out of magazines or that come in the mail. There is also the issue of all the random restaurant coupons. I am thinking a few little accordion files labeled specifically for the different types of random coupons may work.

I am still on the prowl for something that isn't too bulky or cumbersome. Someone I follow on Pinterest has an entire board dedicated to coupon organization. I think I need to start stalking it!

Are you a couponer? What system works best for you?

31 Days - What I Have Learned So Far

Wow!! I can't believe I have been at this whole Dreaming of Simple thing for 3 weeks! Honestly, I feel like this has been the busiest month of my life and then I decided to do some Simplifying and blog about it on top of the other craziness. One more week to go!

I figured I would take a break from a specific project today and just share a little bit about what I have learned or what kind of thoughts (crazy ones included) I have had so far in this process that I don't think will ever end.

1)  Simplifying, or learning to live with less, will be an ongoing journey for me. I don't think I will ever feel like I have totally conquered the clutter and excess that seems to build up at my house or in my life as a whole. 

2) Accountability is good! If not for friends, near and far away, encouraging me and checking in here regularly I would probably have fallen off this train around Day 7, if not sooner. Knowing there are peeps following along forces me to sit down and write a few words every day regardless of how well thought out those words are. Now, if I could apply some accountability to my life in several other areas like food and exercise I might be able to fit into some of my smaller size clothes. 

3) I HATE, I mean strongly dislike, cleaning, but LOVE organizing! My husband doesn't understand why I want the things hidden in closets and cabinets neatly arranged, but have a hard time keeping little things around the house cleaned. Cleaning is just annoying to me because it needs to be done constantly. I mean as soon as I mop the floor, someone is going to step on it or spill lemonade on it. What's the point?  Organizing a specific area, however, has a definite start and end, at least the first time. And there are all those fun bins and boxes! 

4) My Simplified closet is now my favorite room in my house. Who knew a closet could be serene and inviting? Some times I just want to go sit and relax in the closet floor because it is the only room in this 1800 square feet of space that doesn't have something totally out of place. I can walk in there and not have 10 things scream my name, begging me to take them back to where they belong. The only thing that would be an improvement on my closet condition is if the clothes would wash, dry and hang themselves!

I hope you are finding yourself reflecting on Simplifying whatever you have been spurred to Simplify has or will change your life for the better.

31 Days - Cleany Drawers

I have successfully cleaned out my 3 kitchen drawers that have been driving me nuts! Just like walking into my cleaned out closet, opening these drawers brings less anxiety and less time searching for buried treasure. 

I wish I were a better photographer. Gotta work on this. This is the same drawer. After I emptied the 2 utensil drawers completely, I decided that it would make more sense to group my utensils by their function. This drawer went from being total randomness to being still random! Ha! I bought a Rubbermaid divided drawer insert so that it isn't just one big jumble of utensils. These drawers are only 9" wide so I am limited in how wide of an insert I can fit inside the drawer. Maybe not perfect drawer organization, but a definite improvement.

This 2nd drawer became all things cutting - knives, can opener, pizza cutter, melon baller, etc. I like it! It will take me weeks to remember that I moved the knives, but I will eventually. I already had a bin in a lower cabinet that had all my mixer attachments so I was able to move those out of this drawer to give me lots more space.

 

These are all the utensils that got the boot today. Old knives, flimsy spatulas, defunct pizza cutter, etc. This purge was long overdue and it felt good to put these in a trash bag!

The final drawer for this section of Simplifying was our official junk drawer. I didn't realize how long it had been since I last cleaned this drawer out. I found a Whataburger coupon that expired in 2011!!! Oops! I now have 2 flashlights that work and know where they are. I even opened up enough space in this drawer to put my pens, pencils, scissors and stamps that have been in an organizer on the counter. Why have I been saving $0 balance gift cards?

There is something so soothing about deleting these little bits of chaos from my life! Come back tomorrow to see more chaos disappear.

31 Days - Junky Drawers

Anybody got junky drawers? Raise your hands up high so I can see them! I hope I am not the only hand in the air. Wanna see 3 of my junky drawers? I have more than 3, but for now you only get to see 3 because I am stingy like that.

This junk drawer makes me crazy!!! I even have a great little divided organizer in there to keep it from getting like this. It doesn't help if you just drop everything that you don't know what to do with it in random cubes. And the kids are obsessed with money so they come get change out of this drawer to play with. Needless to say, I find coins everywhere. I must remedy that!

How about utensil drawers that look like junk? I have 2 of those! Out of all those knives, I use 4 of them - 2 of those 4 more than the others so why do I keep them - - Just In Case! Just in case of what? So I can arm all my children with a knife in case we have to go into the woods to catch our own dinner? Zombie invasion? No good excuse for hoarding dull knives! You can see I tried to organize the one on the right with some different drawer organizer doodads, but they are really worthless! 

Time to remedy these 3 drawers!!! I said yesterday that paper clutter wasn't exciting. These should be more fun and I might be able to see results every day like I do in my closet and garage. 

Here we go!! Dump out your junk drawer and start chunking - or at least putting things where they belong.

31 Days - File Boxes Finito

I have to admit, this whole paper organizing process is not nearly as fun, rewarding or worthwhile feeling as the garage or the closet projects are. Not sure if it is because it doesn't seem as major or because the paper never ceases, but this has been a little bit of a let down in comparison! Just being honest. I also have a pile of Bailey's school papers that came home on Friday that I want to keep, but not sure what I am going to do with. The bottom line is that at this point I have the bulk of the papers put away, but still not sure exactly how I am going to keep them under control. 

Enough of my honesty. Let's have a few pics, why don't we?

The During is always a mess! The top left picture is my burn pile. Yes, the project has brought out the pyromaniac in me. I even had to postpone a trip to the grocery store today because I started a fire and couldn't leave the house with it burning. And that cutie pie on the bottom that snuck in there is Little Miss Harper! She was more fun to play with than sort papers.

The finished products - My kid bins that currently house all of the kid things that I plan to keep. The problem is that they are in 3rd, 1st and PK and their bins are full. Even worse is Harper doesn't even have a bin! Poor #4! I did manage to get all of my docs into one of my current file boxes. I definitely am going to try to find something smaller so that I can get rid of these two big boxes.

The best news of all is that this overflowing hanging file has been emptied and filed, except for this one piece of mail that came this afternoon that I need to file. I told you it is never ending! 

I have dreams of a better system for keeping the kid papers. I am in search of ideas for how to do that better. I also have dreams of a better system for storing photos - printed and digital! 

I think for a little fun and for a break from the papers for now, I am going to move onto some drawers in my kitchen. I have 3 in particular that stay a mess, full of things that I never or rarely use.

Thanks for hanging on this long! We've made it 21 days so far...10 to go!

31 Days - Paper Inspiration

If you are anything like me, when it comes to the seemingly unending trail of paper clutter, I need some inspiration. I need to see that someone else has a handle on the inevitable masses of paper that infiltrate our houses.

My favorite inspiration so far has come from iheartorganizing. In January she did a six part January Challenge all focused on Paper called Project Paper! 

Here are links to her 6 steps of that series. 

 Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4, Step 5,  Step 6

I am still trying to figure out how to get all of my files into one itty bitty box like her! I keep reminding myself that we are all different and every system isn't going to work perfectly for every person. 

She also has lots of cute printables and other organizing project tutorials. She is a wealth of inspiration for those of us who are Dreaming of Simple!

Be Inspired, Simplifiers!

31 Days - File Box #1

While watching an exciting football game this afternoon with the fam (War Eagle!), I started sorting through one of the two file boxes that house lots of our important documents. To prove that I am the queen of the pack rats, today I found my ASVAB scores from my junior year in high school and I had a copy of my final high school report card! For 19 years I have saved that thing and I am not sure why! What is somewhat ironic about saving these pieces of paper is that I am not sure I even know where my high school diploma is. I had bank statements that were about 8 years old from an account that we no longer use. Finding them has actually prompted me to find out what we need to do to just close that account. I am thinking there may be a tiny bit of money left in it. We also found a few documents leading us to think that we may have money in a South Carolina Teacher Retirement account that we had totally forgotten about! 

I had also saved every piece of paper that any insurance company had sent us regarding any claim ever made on our behalf. You know all those pieces of paper where it says the doctor's office charged $800, the insurance paid $2, and you owe $798? Yeah, I had lots of those - for no apparent reason! I did save all of the paperwork from when Jake had a cyst removed from his jaw about 10 years ago just in case that situation pops up again. But, why did I think it was important for me to save my discharge papers from the hospital when Bailey was born almost 9 years ago?

I started with a pretty full box and now it is about half full. I have another of these boxes that I will go through in the next day or so. I still haven't taken all the papers out of my hanging file yet. I wanted to clean out these boxes first. I would love to consolidate all of these files down to a smaller box, but I am thinking that going from 2 to 1 may be the best I can do for now.

 

I let the kids do a little shredding, until I got the shredder jammed with a staple. So I put the fire place to use for the first time this season. It may have been smarter to wait until it was a little cooler outside. We were sweating and had to go hang out in the backyard just to cool off. Not only was I burning docs I had taken out of this file box, but I also had a huge stack that Jake had cleared out of some boxes in the closet a few days ago. It was quite a pile!

This Simplifying/De-Cluttering stuff is truly addicting! Can't wait to go through the next box and see if I can start another fire on a warm October day!  

31 Days - Imperfect Confession

I need to make a confession! Today, I basically did nothing - nada - zilch - zero. The little stomach bug that was passed around our house last week hit me last night. Nothing major, just some uneasy stomach feelings. I seriously spent the entire day laying in bed. So my bed didn't get made and the things I thought I was going to do today didn't get done. At one point I was feeling okay so I gathered up some random piles of paper to start going through them. I threw quite a bit out, but what was left to be taken to new homes or whatever sat on my bedroom floor most of the afternoon until I knew I just had to get it out of the floor before little feet trampled all over it. What was there is now piled somewhere all together. I didn't even take the stuff out of my hanging file that I posted on here yesterday. Hopefully I will have a huge surge of energy tomorrow between soccer games and practices and having the 4 kiddos all home so I can really attack what I already have filed away and what needs to be filed away or thrown out! I apologize...I am terribly imperfect at this!

In case you just need some Paper Clutter info, check out this Document Retention Guide on BHG.com. Can't wait to go through my file boxes tomorrow and start a big huge burn pile of papers that I have kept forever for no real reason. Happy Filing Everyone!

31 Days - Paper, Paper, Paper

Hi I'm Jen and I have a paper problem. Obviously my filing system is broken. Truly, my desire to file papers is on the top of my least favorite things to do list along with scrubbing toilets and  waking Jenna Beth up for school.

If this were my only pile of papers it wouldn't be quite so bad, but there are piles in the kitchen, my bedroom and various other surfaces around my house. The junk mail, school papers x4, bills, and random coupons, not to mention the big pile of unused, never looked at coupon inserts in the corner of my bedroom have created quite the mess here. I have quit checking the mail lately because I know there will be fewer pieces of paper laying around if I never open the mail box.  

Here are some questions for my faithful readers: 

What do you do with all the school papers your kids bring home?

Where do you file all of your important papers? Filing Cabinet? Filing Boxes? 

What do you do with your mail when you bring it in the house?

In the next couple of days, I will tell you what I currently do with my paper mess that isn't terribly effective. I will also tell you what I do In My Dreams with the paper clutter. 

Thankfully, I have nothing on the agenda for tomorrow - PTL.
If you need me, just look for a big pile of paper.

31 Days - Master Closet - Boom!

And another one bites the dust! 

So excited that the closet is spic and span. It was even fairly easy to pick out an outfit this morning. Without further adieu...Here is the proof in pictures!

The view from the door

My side and Harper's stuff.

 More of my side

 Jake's side and the top shelf

I ended up spending about $30 on the white buckets on the top shelf. But in true Jen Wade fashion, I was able to get them at a discount, thanks to the 3 $5 coupons that printed out after my transactions at Dollar General. That was like getting one bucket free each time I used the coupon. I even have one more coupon to spare! The big challenge is going to be keeping it this way. I do have a few things that I took out of the closet that need new homes! What on earth do I do with a circa 2001 laptop?

Next I'll be tackling the paper clutter that seems to pop up in every room of this house. Hope you'll come back for more Simplifying!

31 Days - Closet Inspiration

Taming my clutter can definitely become terrifying and overwhelming! Throughout this process, I keep reminding myself that every little bit of work I do helps, even when the work doesn't necessarily accomplish visual changes! Like today, I haven't had a ton of time to spend hanging out in the closet and honestly, I have sort of reached a point where I need to make a couple of purchases before I can totally get the closet looking how I ultimately want it to look. The few small tasks I have accomplished today include dropping bags off at Goodwill, changing out all of Jake's hangers from various to colors to all white, and doing some 'pinterest-ing' to find some gift wrapping solution options. Nothing too exciting, but I keep doing what I can, when I can! Since my own tasks are not that exciting today, I thought I would share a couple of Closet Inspiring posts with you.

I began blogging several years ago, like 6, and one of my favorite organizing blogs has always been orgjunkie.com! I noticed the other day that she is doing a 31 day series as part of the Nester's 31 Day Challenge, too. Her topic very appropriately for the little clean out I am doing now is Closets! I read through several of her posts yesterday and came across her 11 Rules to Help You Declutter Your Clothes. Love it! She even has a printable you can print and keep in your closet to remind you of the simple rules. I love her #2! 

"If you have a piece of clothing that you wear but are annoyed with it every time you do, seriously stop it!" 

How many things have I held onto just to have an option, but every time I wore it I was always concerned about my bra strap showing or constantly pulling a pair of pants up because they felt saggy or inched down when I sat down giving time for the top of my panties to play peak a boo at very inappropriate times! Is there ever an appropriate time for that? I got rid of several of those things in the 2 bags I dropped off at Goodwill today. Go read all 11 for yourself. I am sure your mind will wander to those pieces of clothing that you really should just part with. Just do it!!!

A few years ago, I read the Tiny Twig's No Brainer Wardrobe series as part of the 31 Days thing and she has brought it back for this year. She talks about a 50 hanger closet and buying staple pieces and then accessorizing. I am not at this point yet! I really want to be there, but I am not. However, I love this line in her post When You Have No Money. It's her #2 as well, something about #2's today!  

"Be okay wearing the same clothes often. Get out of the middle school 

mentality of having to have a new outfit for each day.

 Nobody cares. Get over your bad self. :)" 

When I was pregnant I was so much more content wearing the same things over and over. Maternity clothes are expensive and I hated how I looked in all of them so there was no point in me spending money on them! I wore the same 2 pairs of jeans about about 5 shirts for what seemed like years, but was really only 4 or 5 months. Now that I am in weight loss mode, most of the time, I have a few things that I seem to wear all the time and that just gets old. She also says in this same post -  

Abundance will not give you great outfits. 

Abundance will give you a full closet. 

Lots of truth in that statement! My goal one day is to have a not so full closet, but lots of great outfits within my smaller selection. One step at a time!

31 Days - Closet Progress

It was a good rainy day to get the first little bit of progress done on the closet. Since it rained, our outdoor family photo session and 2 soccer games were cancelled leaving me with a few extra hours to keep working.  I thought I would just get through my clothes today, but ended up working on Harper's shelves this evening after getting a little inspiration from another blog.

Let's see some pictures of the chipping away I did today. 

I started by sorting out clothes, shoes and scarves that I just don't wear or can't wear and wouldn't wear if I could! I actually ended up keeping more things than I thought I would, but also talked myself into getting rid of a few sweaters and shirts that I am still shocked I put in the get out of my closet pile. You can see my big pile in the bathtub in the row of pictures. I also replaced all of my non white hangers with white hangers. It looks more uniform that way to me.

Harper's little corner of the world was in complete disarray when I started this morning. I got a little inspiration here, from Keep Calm and Decorate. I love how simple, but put together her shelves are! I had to rob Peter to pay Paul for a few of my baskets, but also avoided going to Dollar Tree in the rain and spending money. Simple and cheap are two of my goals with this de-cluttering/Simplifying process! I may still buy a couple of baskets to separate the pants in the one big white basket. It depends on how much of a mess this one basket is in a few days. 

Bows, Bows, Bows!!! The bow hanger has been in Jenna Beth's closet for several years. She rarely wears a bow, though. I have walked two miles back and forth from the closet to Jenna Beth's room looking for bows over the past 8 months. I decided I should just put her bows in the closet where I keep Harper's headbands and clothes. I forgot how many bows we have accumulated, especially since Jenna Beth is anti-bow! I couldn't even get all the bows on the hanger so I had to clip some to the basket where I have some hats and wide headbands. Tonight Jake finished off the oatmeal so I told him not to throw the oatmeal container away. I wrapped headbands around it as it was, but will probably paint it or cover it with scrapbook paper to make it a little more decorative.

Tomorrow I'll drop off 4 bags of clothes to Goodwill and search for a solution for my stash of wrapping paper and gift bags in the floor under Harper's hanging clothes. As long as I don't get side tracked, I should be able to have the closet complete before Friday. Rock On!

31 Days - Simplify the Master Closet

As I was taking my before pictures of the closet, my husband told me that taking pictures of the closet wasn't really fair right now.  I am not totally sure what he meant by that. I guess he was implying that at this moment there are things that will show up in the pictures that don't necessarily belong in this closet, which is the reason this closet stays such a wreck. It has become the gathering place for all kinds of stuff that really should go other places - some  doesn't even belong in our house! 

This is the place where my hoarding tendencies show up most, I think, well, other than the Red Room! I have all kinds of gift wrap, old laptops, lots of clothes that I never wear, accompaniment cassettes (yes cassettes), and various other items with which I have a hard time parting. However, I intend to be ruthless in cleaning out this closet! I want to walk into the closet and not trip over something - shoes, free weights, baby junk, etc. I want to walk in and be able to pick out an outfit in a matter of seconds - no filtering through shirts I don't like and would never wear.  Doesn't that sound dreamy? A closet with only items I love!

Ready or not, here we go!

This is the view from the doorway coming into the closet from the master bath. The view on the left is some of Harper's stuff. Initially, I thought this was a good system to store and access her non hanging clothes and accessories, but it ends up being a mess all the time! I am not sure if I will keep her stuff in these bins or find some other inexpensive solution. 

This is the right side of the closet, or Jake's side. The clothes on the bottom rack of the picture on the top right are unsold consignment clothes that will be transferred to another closet or to bins to store in the attic. That's an easy fix! Before I left for the retreat on Friday, Jake had already bagged up 2 garbage bags of stuff to take to Goodwill. Glad he is on board! Hopefully we can go through that basket of Army docs in the next couple of days. 

Finally, my side of the closet. There's a bin of too small clothes on the floor that I must go through and decide if I will ever fit into them again. If I think I can  get there, I must decide if I would wear them if I could fit in them! I will need to get real about whether all the stuff junking up my closet is worth keeping. It's gonna be fun. Can't wait to spend less time digging through clothes that I never wear and probably never will.

Can't wait to start Simplifying tomorrow!