Tackle it, revisted

Here's the after w/my table skirt camaflouging all the extra machines, patterns and what not. Much better!


Here's what's hiding away under the table...can you believe how much stuff I can store under there?


Here's the before. What a mess!

Well, feeling a bit better today which is a good thing since there are so many project, so little time. However today is a quickie since I already started on it a bit. The overflow sewing stuff in the dining room. I mostly want to organize it and camaflouge it since there really isn't anywhere else for me to move it to beside the garage and that would defeat the point of having it ready to go. Sometimes I wish I could break down and just sale some it, but I have to admit that even the thought of doing that fills me dread. I love my sewing stuff...it's a big part of my stress relief and serves as a creative outlet. I don't sew every day or even every week...but I can always find my zen place when I do and I don't want to let that go. It might seem silly since I have so much...but there it is. But, that doesn't mean it can't be organized right? I made a little curtain to hide the interfacing I have stored in a little ikea cabinet. I attached it with stick on velcro...we'll see how long it holds up. I'd love to make a skirt to hide all the things under my cutting table, but I only have 4.5 yds of the fabric and I need to recover the midcentury chairs I picked up last week. In the meantime I found a huge piece of dec. weight fabric I got awhile back from my friend Rhonda, it'a a bluish gray paisley. I like the print even if I doesn't really coordinate. It will serve until I can find something that goes better. Maybe a solid or something.
Next week is my big furniture rehab. I already started by filling in all the knicks and gouges with wood putting and sanding it down. I picked up the paint today. I ended up getting Kilz One Coat from Walmart. I was surprised that it was a bit expensive...but not quite as expensive as the Benjamin Moore I had looked at the day before. I settled on painting the furniture black, a color called Black Ink. I hope it's black enough, a lot of the blacks I looked at looked sort of dusky and gray.

Clutter Control Update

It's been awhile since I talked about my efforts to purge and get organized. I must say I've been doing pretty well. Things didn't turn out exactly how I had planned, however I learned a few lessons along the way. First off, I actually like my stuff. Of course I probably have more stuff than I should, but I'm not an impulse shopper, in fact generally I'm a bargain shopper and take awhile to make a purchase. I have come to realize that I don't want or desire a minimalist life. I want to have a life with purpose that is filled with the people and things that I love. For some it might seem like too much, but I've come to realize for me it's just enough most of the time. Of course I go through periods where there are too many toys lying around, too many clothes to wash or I need to take a break from buying yarn or fabric. But overall I'm okay with having material possessions. That's a huge realization for me. It seems sort of counter intuitive to other aspects of my life and my desire to lead a less consumer driven life. I think I combat that by recycling and reusing as much as I can in my life.
I have also come to realize that the key for me was not necessarily purging down to the bare bones...but purging excess stuff and getting what remained organized. I've been doing that by looking at our life with clear eyes. What do we need? What do we use? Could this be better used by someone else? I've been honest and realistic about what our needs are and that has been refreshingly liberating. I've also invested in some organizational systems and enlisted all my family members to play a part. Our home has never been so clean and organized. It feels good to reach a balance. It was surprisingly so much easier than I thought it would be. There's a new calm and sense of harmony in our home. I seem to have a bit more time with the kids and to do things we all enjoy. Maybe it's because I don't feel as stressed and overwhelmed by everything.
When I originally planned this blog post I thought I would talk about letting go of material things, but I think what I've been able to let go of has been so much more significant.

Homemanagement Binder...My life in a notebook

Well...sort of. I've always used a filofax/dayrunner system that I kept my calendar and little notes to myself in. As the size of my family grew, well so did my system. I needed something to keep everyone's needs, schedules, to do list and just the day to day stuff straight. At one point I had a lot of info on my sony clie pda, that is until my dh "borrowed" the power cord without telling me and it powered down and dump all my info. I was devastated. I don't think I could trust technology to that extent again. I mean I had tons and tons of info on there. I was furious to say the least. However, not to be deterred, I rebounded and began to think about the type of person I was...I'm not a techie...I like a visual, I like writing things down (I really believe it helps me remember them better) so maybe a notebook would be better. So, I got online and googled Home management notebook. Stumbled across some great sites, free printables and a really inspirational blog. I looked at tons of other notebooks, flylady, I looked at stuff I had been using (The Amy Knapp family planner among others) and made a list of what I thought I needed in my notebook. Next I went to Big Lots to gather my supplies. I got a Mead 3 ring zippered binder, a heavy duty zipped pouch, page protectors and plastic subject dividers w/pockets. That was a good start. I later added card holders and a bunch of stuff to the pouch (glue, scissors, tape, post its, hole punch, pencils, sharpie, pens and a calculator just to name a few). Then I got to work deciding which printables to use in my notebook. I found tons that work well for me on Organized home.com and Delightinreallife.com. Then I began to put it together.
The breakdown of my binder is like this

Calendar/Schedule
I have in a page protector the current month's calendar and on the reverse side the current year's calendar.
In this section I also have a 7 day calendar that I jot down my weekly plans.
In the pocket of the divider I keep a stash of blank 7 day calendars

Pending/To do items
Just what it says...things that I need to do, file away or what have you.

Phone numbers/Contacts
A list of emergency numbers, numbers of friends and family and business cards stored neatly protective sleeves ( intended for baseball cards).

Homekeeping
All generic things related to keeping the house
My house cleaning schedule
A copy of the flylady routine
A stain removal guide
Master grocery list
7 day menu planning pages

Takeout menus

Budget
Master spending plan
Manila envelope for receipts
A page protector that I store coupons in until I can organize them in my coupon binder
A home budget book
A pocket for bills that need to be entered online to be paid

Projects and Interest
A page for household projects
My personal project goals
Clippings, articles, craft patterns, notes on things I want to try or make

The parents
Stuff pertaining to me or dh
My work schedule

Health and wellness
An exercise journal
Info on diet and nutrition

That's pretty much what's in my main home management binder.

I also keep smaller separate binders for the kids that contains all their school stuff, schedules and forms that need to be dealt with and another one for recipes I've gotten online or from magazines (I put them in page protectors to save them from messy cooking).
So, that's it in a nutshell. It's how I stay partially sane and organized while working and caring for my large family. If you're on the hunt for a system, I hope you'll give the notebook system a try. It's changed my life...really.

Now here's a pictorial of some of the items in my notebook just to give you an idea of how it looks.

Homemanagement Binder...will it change my life?

I've been working on a Homemanagement binder. Simply put, it's a notebook with everything in one place that I need to manage our home. Calendar, schedule (ok, I'm more of a routine kind of gal than a schedule persay), resources for budgeting, shopping, project ideas...anything I might need to manage our home. I've found a wonderful online resources and lots of examples for inspirations. Of course there's the flylady's control journal...but I don't really like the idea of controlling as much as managing. Anywho, I'm going to give it a try and will see if it changes my life. I'm even going to schedule myself some exercise time and perhaps get more in touch w/my spiritual side. It was interesting that many of the online sites where I saw sample binders were from women who identified themselves as christian women. I think it's interesting that they seem to put more focus in to caring for their home and family. Not to say that I don't consider myself a christian...I do, but I don't think that would be the primary identifier I'd use if you asked me to tell about myself. I might say I'm female, a wife, a mother...but not necessarily a christian. I was also fascinated by alot of the passages they quoted on their blogs that represented being a wife and how important it is to care for one's family. I think I'm going to take this year (now and into 2008) to read the Bible. I've never read the entire thing. I have several, but I've never read more than select passages. Anyway, even if I end up not loving the binder, I think I'll get something out of the experience.