Uphill Battle

I was feeling so positive about my progress with organizing & decluttering, but now I am feeling a bit deflated.  I just don't have much hope in my husband.  I have a LONG list of things I think he should part with, and I didn't put everything on that list because I know there are things he needs to hold onto for some reason.

There are about 20 items, and most of them require effort.  It isn't just a matter of dropping it off at Goodwill.  He needs to sell most of it.  We also have a huge amount of DVDs & VHS sitting in boxes that I just know he won't part with.  If it were up to me we would keep about 10-15 of our very favourites... but I know he will want to keep most of them.  

I want so badly to get everything really organized so the stuff we have is accessible and not hidden away. 

I wish he could see why we need to do this... 

Fridge

I did this before Christmas.  I could still probably get rid of more bottles on the door but I feel bad throwing out so much stuff at once.  I went shopping right after... clearly there wasn't much in there.  I am going to clean it before I do our grocery shopping, so it will stay nice and tidy.

Our Living Room

This week I made a few changes to our living room to make it more kid friendly.  I put a shelving unit behind the couch so that Pookie could keep her puzzles and other toys there.  I also put her little Ikea table between out 2 chairs so that she would have a hard surface to do her puzzles on.  Before she was using the ottoman.  She really enjoys using that table now, whereas before it didn't get much use.  All the her toys have very specific places in this room and she can easily put them all away.  

Bedroom Closets

This week I did the bedroom closets as well as our dresser.  Which I do about every other month.  Usually mine doesn't get his messy but we were rushing out and I couldn't find a top.  Enough said!

I got rid of a big garbage bag of clothes.  I was ruthless and got rid of things I don't wear on a regular basis, and extra PJs etc.  It is nice to have more space.  I pulled a few things out of DHs closet (after I took the picture), but he really needs to do it on his own.  He has SOOO many T-Shirts as you can see.  

I used to be really anal about how I hung my clothes.  They were all hung by colour and type, and the hangers were all in order of type as well.  I would even keep them evenly spaced for the most part.  That was before I had a baby.  These days I don't worry about that type of thing.

Kitchen

I have always been good about keeping our kitchen tidy, but I decided to take it a step further, and keep it REALLY clean.  I cleared some space to keep some vinegar and water, rags etc. in the kitchen to make it easier.  Now I can wipe the floor down everyday easily, rather than just moping it when it gets really bad.  I have also taken Flylady's advice and have started to shine my sink... and i LOVE it.  It is so nice to come down to the kitchen in the morning and see a shiny sink.  That said I do put dishes in the sink and let them sit there until I am ready to wash them.  I don't need to have a shiny sink all day.  Although I did shine it twice already at it is only 1:30.

A month ago I did a clean out in the kitchen and got the cupboards really organized.  It is easy to keep things tidy when everything has a place that is easily accessible and makes sense.   The biggest project was the spice cupboard.  That is hubby's domain and had gotten out of hand.  

My next kitchen project is to do the fridge.  I usually do this about 4 times a year, but I would like to aim for every two weeks so it isn't such a big job.  I would also like to start putting stickers on all the jars of when I bought them or when they expire, in a place that is easy to see.  Sometimes we have sauces in there for so long!!  We have actually stopped using most of them so that will make life easier.

Storage Solution

I love the set up we have by our front door.  There are 6 baskets in this unit.  The top 2 are for my husband and me to store our cell phone charges, odds and ends, extra keys etc and the bottom 2 are for our winter things.  The middle two are for my daughters hats, mitts and shoes, and the other one is for our dog.  Since I got this organized (a couple months ago).  Things go more smoothly when my husband is looking for his stuff.  Pookie also knows where her stuff is and will go get a hat or her shoes when we go out.  She also will put them away if you ask her too.

I used to have a pottery bowl on top to catch loose change, keys etc.. but then Pookie started getting into it so I have move that to another convenient location.

Front Hall Closet

 I organized our front hall closet.  I had done it a few weeks ago but this time instead of just tidying I de-cluttered and got rid of some old shoes.  I also put a clear plastic bin on the top shelf to dump Pookie's snow suit.  It was driving me nuts not having a place for it.  I had tossed around the idea of getting a nice wicker basket which would certainly be more aesthetically pleasing but I had the plastic bin, and quickly realized being able to see the contents would be an asset. 

I would really like my husband to paint the interior of this closet.  It is in really rough shape.

Toy Storage in the Basement

Usually this area is very clean but it got a bit cluttered as I was organizing other areas.   I decided to put up some pictures my husbands mom had made.  They aren't my usual taste but for the basement I think they actually look alright.  

The top two drawers were basically for junk.  I got rid of a lot of it. One side has stuff for bubbles and the other is for my special DVDs and any little things I don't want Pookie to get into.

Under the Stairs

*pics to come*

I tackled under the stairs first thing this morning.  It was mostly filled with stuff for Goodwill, so I packed that all up in the car.  The things that are remaining are either stuff my husband needs to deal with (old hockey & golf stuff), pictures that have been hanging around unhung for 10 years, an old snare drum.

The other things are old baby things.  The crib, change table and some odds and ends.  My plan is to store old baby stuff in there.  Once future baby #2 is on his or her way, we will unpack it and convert it into a little secret hideout for Pookie.

Linen Closet & Bathroom

Today I tacked the linen closet, and decided it made sense to do the bathroom as well.  It didn't seem too overwhelming and my 19 month old daughter "Pookie" was able to "help."   I had these two bins with old toiletries in them.  I hate throwing things in the garbage (I have no trouble giving stuff away or recycling), which is why so much stuff had accumulated.  I just had to buck up and get rid of it all.  Usually that closet isn't that messy but there was just so much stuff in it got increasingly hard to keep neat.  I feel SOOO good now!  I also put the floor back into the bottom of the closet and put up the bottom shelf (not shown in the pic).  Now I have a place for our swimming stuff!

I also found some really nice samples of creams etc. that I was storing away.  I decided to pull them out and put them in my medicine cabinet (which I also cleaned & isn't pictured).  That way I will remember I have them and I will use them.  They all fit in very neatly and there still is a lot of room in it.

I organized my husbands cupboard.  It wasn't too bad... mostly just dirty which a few empty bottles.  I put together a cleaning bucket for the third floor and I did a really good cleaning of the entire bathroom.

Today I also decluttered our bedroom dresser.  It had a wicker basket on it with junk in it and I was able to put it all away.  It looks so much better, and now I have a basket for Pookies books.  

Tomorrow I work so I am not sure if I will have time to do anything.  

Decluttering is the first step

I am starting this blog to help me stay accountable and keep me motivated on my mission to cleanliness. I would love to do a really excellent decluttering job of my home and come up with some sort of cleaning routine. I have always been a very neat person, but it is hard to stay on top of it while chasing a very active 18 month old! Now that I am starting to think about child number 2, I am increasingly motivated to get super organized.

My first task is to declutter.

• Clear out closet understairs with old clothes & stuff to go to goodwill
• Sell highchair
• Old ballet clothes
• Memento box
• Make list of husbands stuff so he can do something about it (he has a LOT of stuff)
• Pare down bags
• Thin out linen closet

That is all I can think of for the time being. Tomorrow I will attack one of those. Baby steps....