And even more progress

More decluttering and cleaning today. I decided my work areas needed some organizing.

Here's the before of my office area

And here's how it looks now. I'm actually kind of thinking this corner might be a better area for some pantry shelves. Maybe some open, industrial-look shelving. Hmmm.... (ETA: Maybe something like this. It'd be awesome if they had a corner piece).

I also cleared off my mail sorting table in the living room. No before picture, but trust me, it looked a lot worse than this.
And while I was at it in the breakfast nook area, I kept on going. Remember this corner?

Here's how it looks now. I should've given the floors a good scrubbing, but that can happen another day. Buster will probably be surprised when he comes back inside (now that the scary vacuum cleaner isn't growling).
And this?

Well, it still looks the same. Maybe next weekend I'll tackle that.

Progress!

Earlier this month, I wrote about signing up for the Clutterfat Challenge.

Confession: I haven't done that well.

But today, I did make some headway. While doing the usual catch-up cleaning in the kitchen, I grabbed a clean, empty box from the garage and another left over from Christmas and started going through my utensil drawer. There were probably a couple dozen steak knives in there. That's in addition to the six steak knives I have in my knife block on the counter next to the stove.

I also cleaned out the drawer of all the crumbs and stuff!

I also went through the utensil crock next to stove and dumped a few things in there. Why do I need four spatulas?
I also started weeding out the mugs and a few other things. I have no idea what that lid goes to, because it fits none of the pots I have. So it's going, too.
I even cleaned out the storage area under the stove! Yay, me!

Getting creative again

So I switched to Facebook's timeline this week, and wondered what to do with the "cover photo, a large, wide space for a photo at the top of the page. I wanted to do more than just use one of my photos, though. I wanted to use that space to express myself.

There are some really creative ones out there (I like the E.T. and shark ones). I might have to try something like that sometime, with integrating the profile file into the whole design, but that takes some planning.

But I did put something together that I really like. I think it shows at least part of who I am. Plus, I got to learn some cool new Photoshop techniques and get my creative juices flowing. I hope I'll be able to use them sometime in my job.

Clutterfat Challenge

I've been thinking for quite awhile I need to not just declutter but to simplify my life. Get rid of a lot of stuff that I just no longer feel the need to have but is still taking up space in my house and in my mind. I've worked at it some, but the problem is if you don't keep at it, the clutter just grows.

So yesterday in my blog reading, I came across the Clutterfat Challenge through Zen Habits. So I signed up. The challenge is to declutter your home in 30 days. Even if I don't get the whole house decluttered in that time, at least I've got a plan, or at least that's my idea. (Jan. 7 was the last day to sign up for the challenge, but really, I see no reason why someone couldn't do it without registering. Just print off the inventory and go "like" the Facebook page if you want to join in).

So this weekend, I've started on the inventory list. I've gotten through the kitchen so far (I'm counting kitchen/dining as one room because that's just how my house is), and one thing became clear pretty quick: I have way too many mugs for one person. And utensils. I didn't even count all the utensils, really, but I'll certainly be taking a look at everything and if I haven't used it on a regular basis in the last few months or don't even know what it is, in a box for the thrift store it goes.

The inventory is a before and after, and part of it is to take pictures. So, without shame, here's my before pictures of the kitchen/dining area of my home. It WILL look better 30 days from now.

Draw of utensils I don't use very often. The BBQ ones are about all I use.
More utensils. Some of these I do use fairly regularly. But there's some knives and stuff in there I didn't even realize were there. Mom, if you want any of this stuff, you better come get it!
Countertop to left of sink. Some used, some not.
Countertop to right of sink. I do use these pretty regularly.
Cupboard above right of the sink. Most of the mugs are in the dishwasher (no, I'm not showing you that!)
I have an office area in a breakfast nook addition to the house. This area is in desperate need of decluttering.
This is probably the worst. Boxes of old documents that are destined for the next "free shred" day in our area. I can probably add to them before that.
Yeah.

I need to decide what to do here. I'd like to put in a tall cabinet for a pantry ideally.

If I can get just these rooms totally decluttered in 30 days, that will satisfy me, really. Then I can just use the same method to tackle each room. If that's the case, then within 5 months the house would be done. Of course, that's not counting the garage. Sigh.