Sadly, winter break has come to an end, and it’s back to work early tomorrow morning. The last few days of vacation are kind of a bummer, but I must say it’s been a very good break – a relaxing yet productive three weeks. In addition to a week in Hawaii, sleeping in very late, and many movies, I delved into a few home projects.
For the last year or so, I’ve been a Pinterest junkie. I’ve pinned tons of recipes, art/craft projects, school lessons, and home ideas in hopes of some day completing one or more of them. How fun to be able to use some of the pins during this break!
When returning home after Christmas, decluttering was a must. Starting in my room I got rid of 8 bags of clothes and shoes and towels and bedding. Afterwards, I wanted to reorganize what I had left so it was more accessible.
My t-shirt drawer is ALWAYS a mess. Even once organized, after a few weeks of digging through the drawer it’s messy again. I just want to know why I didn’t do THIS earlier! Putting the t-shirts in the drawer vertically rather than horizontally is so very smart.
Every vacation cleaning out the closet is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I have a hard time parting with clothes and shoes. I organized my closet this go round based on this tip. 
My art room is the biggest offender of clutter. I don’t know what to do with it because when I put stuff away, out of sight out of mind, but when it’s left out I don’t have room to work. I haven’t known where to even start with it. I’ve been pinning ideas and this was one I could get going on easily.
My ribbon drawers are just as messy as my t-shirt drawers were. With them stacked on top of each other and some unwinding, it was very difficult to see what I had, and usually some untangling had to be done before I could take anything out of the drawers.
I found some clear glass cookie jars for $5 at Target and a bag of craft sticks at JoAnn’s. I spent several hours over a couple of days sitting on the floor of the art room rewrapping ribbon around the craft sticks. 
After about about 2 hours (and only about 9 sticks wrapped) I wondered if this was such a good idea after all. It took a long time. At posting time I have 9 more rolls to go and a lot of scraps, which I’m not sure how I will handle yet. 
For some reason while I was in Hawaii, I decided to redecorate my guest bedroom. 
Pinterest had the wheels turning, and I ended up buying a cheap iron bed I found on Craigslist with the intention of repainting it. 
I bought some really cute but unfinished frames from Very Jane. On Friday, I started painting them. 
This afternoon I sprayed the 2nd coat of paint on the front and am now waiting for them to dry. Hopefully they’ll be covered because I’m afraid now that vacation is over I won’t get around to them again until spring break.
The bedding for the guest room arrived this week. I’ll post pictures of the finished room if once it’s finished.
I enjoy taking on projects, but when I’m working I have neither the time nor the energy for them. I feel so accomplished after vacations like this!
a) that notion with the Tee's just won't work. It might with a man but with a woman if a tee doesn't pass the cute test then another one will come out and another .... until one that works is found. Eventually you'll have two places for tee's.
ReplyDelete2)it's six months with the hanger trick not a year. And that one might actually work.
c) shelves, heavy duty garage type shelves for the art room. You should think of it as a work room. And in a workroom drawers and closed boxes don't work unless you've more than a slight touch of OCD. You need to see things, otherwise you'll end up with multiples of items. Why HD shelves work is that they turn the problem on it's head. In that you have clutter not because you're untidy but because you've not sufficient surface space to place things. Eventually you'll have a version of Vitruvian Man with things you use regularly near you and lesser further away. But you should nail things like Prussian Blue to the fricking wall in front of you. It is the most useless crappy colour and I H8 it. But I have about five tube of the stuff. Why ?. Because when I go to an art shop to graze it's one that always pop's out and I go oooooh that's needed. We all have a version of that I think.
Men look at that bed and cringe at the cushions. We just have no clue why they are there. I like the round window though. Is there a reason for it. Oh, you might need to put rubber in the joints on that bed and perhaps a block or two to prevent it hitting the wall. There is more movement in that bed than you'd think.
Oh, good luck on the re-start.
DeleteI was thinking about my comment after, the tone of it. It's intended to be amusing.
DeleteHa ha! No worries, it was amusing. These tees are just for working out or lounging around, so not too worried about them being cute. I didn't show the other drawers just for that reason though.
DeleteAs for 6 months on the closet, that's not enough time. I'd have to get rid of half my wardrobe - 6 months from now is only June and the 100+ weather doesn't come until late July or August. I wouldn't have anything to wear in the dead of summer if I got rid of everything in June! :)
Yes! Yes! Yes! On the shelves. A few months ago I cleared off some decorative shelves in that room and set the paint on them. So much easier. A few years ago I found some cabnitery for that room that's really nice with drawers and doors, but I hate that everything is put away and not easily accessible. Maybe that'll be my next project.
The cushions are only there in the guest room for decoration since it's not used every day. If I had them in my room they'd end up being on-the-floor decorations, so I don't bother.
The guest bed itself is turning into more of a DIY disaster than success, so there may not be need for rubber or blocks or anything for that matter.
That last bed comment was most amusing, and I'll leave that one alone. ;)
Isn't that the point of the six months. You have the winter stuff and then the summer. If you wait the year you won't see a difference.
DeleteI gave another read of that entry, just now. There is an aspect of 'putting away childish things' about it. I wonder is she drifting into giving up and donning a Connecticut uniform of pastille tweed or linen and where the term 'matronly' is apt.
I wonder if the method is 'all that' after all. It might be better to divide between 'good' and 'fun' with sub-divisions for work and holy WOW for the backless little number slit to the hip that you'll need it for the red carpet. And at the start of the year give yourself a realistic budget for the 'two'. But toss the fun stuff when you buy more. Or you could build another wardrobe, voila.
Ya, I've contemplated adding on another room or two in order to deal with all my stuff. ;) In my dreams! For now, the decluttering will have to suffice.
DeleteYou sure have been productive.
ReplyDeleteThe t shirt thing is brilliant.
I make my husband to the hanger thing..
Ohh, you've used it before. That's good to hear. I think it's going well. What I like about it is since all the hanger nonesense is done in the beginning, so the rest of the time is just like normal hanging up. So we'll see how it goes.
DeleteI love the t-shirt thing. They are so easy to find. Folding them is a little more time consuming, but with that being said it goes from 2 seconds to maybe 5. Not a terribly long time.
I love to reorganize and decorate...but there is never enough time!! Good luck on your new year at school :)
ReplyDeleteI love the projects- thanks for sharing!
Other than the EARLY morning it was an ok day. I've got a student who is wreaking havoc in the room this year. It's wearing me out because the behavior is causing the rest of the class to fall apart. I'm literally exhausted at the end of the day trying to keep everyone safe and sane. So I'll take your luck as I'll probably need it. :)
DeleteYes, I love it too! But it's certainly limited to vacations and holidays.
You have been busy, your guest room is going to be great.
ReplyDelete