ASSIGNMENT #5: “Like Goes with Like” and the Living Room

Whew! We’re finally on the part of the challenge where we start going room by room! This is the part that will feel like your are actually accomplishing something!

I’m starting with the living room, because generally that’s the easiest, you might need the space to start organizing those “stations” we talked about earlier, and if you’re anything like me, you need an easy assignment because you’re already behind and need some time to catch up. (Don’t worry, I tried to build several some days like this in, just so we ALL can actually catch up and make it through!)

First, let’s talk about the concept of “Like Goes with Like.” Really it is this concept alone that truly has given my artsy-non linear brain any organizational ability whatsoever. And it’s pretty darn simple.

If this ___ is like this ____, then they go together.

For example, I organize all of my holiday decorations and related items this way. If I have Christmas related books, movies, or hand towels, they go in the Christmas boxes. If I have Thanksgiving related project idea books, they go in the Thanksgiving boxes. Period. That way my bookcases and movies aren’t cluttered with the annual Christmas movie marathon videos or all-about-Thanksgiving books. Plus, it builds anticipation and excitement as kids get old enough to remember certain items. My oldest still talks about the Resurrection Eggs we got for Easter last year. If you can carry this idea throughout your house when you organize, it will make your life so much easier. Why have towels in 20 places around the house? Have one location, and then you have only one stop when putting away laundry!

This concept pertains to large-scale moves as well. Most of what I’m really doing this month is setting our items up for the packers who come later this month. And honestly, I’m trying to set things up in such a way so that when we get all of these boxes again six months from now, things are easy to find and quicker to put away. (When you move every two years, the process of unpacking loses its thrill.) So think about like goes with like.

Part A of your assignment today is to do a quick run-through of your house and put like with like. It doesn’t have to organized and pretty right now. Right now we are focusing on “things that go together” actually “Go” (in our move) together. Does that make sense?

One of the ways this pertains to myself, especially during a move, is our books. Because I’m a voracious book reader and made sure our kids have their own mountainous collection of books as well, books are stationed all over our house. And also tend to end up scattered in many random places. Which stinks when you arrive at your new location and even after packing 50 boxes, you can’t find someone’s favorite bedtime story book that they just can’t sleep without. So, before a move, I will go through all of our books and do a purge of anything I choose to donate. (It’s rare. Though easier now that Hubbie and I have moved to e-readers.) And then I go through the house with a laundry basket and collect all the random books from the random places. And ALL BOOKS in our house end up in the living room.

Which leads me to part two of today’s assignment. The Living Room.

For me, the Living Room is the easiest room in the house to prep. Because I try to keep my house partially company ready, the living room is the main room that is always “ready.” In my case I won’t have a lot that I will have to do in my living room. Except deal with our books. Which I purged a year ago, when we moved in. And I really should do at least one more time before we move. Even though getting rid of any of my books is like tearing off my arm.

What I have to remember is that in Our Big Major Move, I am in the situation where we are only allowed a certain amount of weight. And books weigh. A LOT. Probably more than anything in the house.

The other thing I deal with in our living room is knickknacks and picture frames. Even since we moved here a year ago, there is a large stack of knickknacks that I never found space for and pictures I never hung up on the walls. It’s time for me to reevaluate those items. Are they worth repacking again, if I didn’t seem to miss them this past year? Or are some of these items, while dust catchers, still things that will make our new place feel like “home?” When your home is constantly changing, that is a powerful need that cannot be marginalized. And not an easy decision sometimes!

Coming up next will be the bathrooms and toiletries, the master bedroom, and kids’ rooms!

To link to today’s Assignment #5, Please click the link below!

ASSIGNMENT #4: PLAYROOM (kids’ toys area)

Yeah, you guys were hoping I’d leave this to the very last, weren’t you?

I thought about it. Really did. But sadly, I need that space down there to be one of my “stations.” And, since Christmas just happened, they are starting to take over the house.

So yes, today’s assignment is the playroom. Or whatever space that is designated for toys. If it’s in the living room, their bedrooms, whatever. The best time to do this is usually when the kids are not around; either after bedtime or when they are in school!

My girls have gotten used to regular purgings of their toys. I have made it a big deal to get rid of “baby toys” since we no longer have any babies in our house. We always talk about finding other babies to give them to. And since mine are at an age where it’s still really important to not be a baby but a big girl, I’ve been able to slide with this most of the time.

But this time I will have to organize toys into what is going into various shipments. We generally put as many toys as possible into our “quick” shipment (don’t worry, it takes too long to explain) more for our own sanity than anything else. I also try to weed out all those junky fast food toys, or the ones that have just started driving me insane. In fact, back in December, the girls rode on a Christmas float and I was able to “pass along” many of those little goodies to some other children, and all in the name of Christmas cheer!

Steps to getting the playroom ready for our “big move:”

1. Purge the broken, missing too many pieces to be worth keeping, junk, and garbage.
2. Pull out any toys still in good working order, but “too young” in development level. Be careful in assigning too much emotional attachment to things, but also don’t toss out the beloved stuffed animal that your child need therapy when she’s 20 over losing. Decide if these items go to the “consignment sale” pile or the “give away” pile. (Upcoming post about the give away pile, I promise!)
3. Reorganize the remaining toys. How can you set them up that will make it easier for your children to clean it up and stay organized themselves? Is it a disaster because your organizational system is too complicated for them or “takes too long”? I personally happen to a big fan of those storage cubes, or smaller baskets for smaller items. I also have come to really love Ziploc bags. I use them for just about everything – and especially like to use them in game boxes to keep all the pieces in! FYI, the ones with the zipper closures are easier for little hands to do on their own, which means they will actually get used more.
4. While doing this project, take a mental inventory. Last year I realized my kids had about 40 coloring books. Apparently I had a “buying coloring book” fetish I didn’t even know about! So I gave myself a ban on buying any more coloring books or crayons for quite a while. Thankfully we are back down to a manageable amount. But you might want to take a look around and see if there are certain items that really would benefit from focusing on using up this year. Or perhaps begging Nana and Papa to refrain from gifting Junior with any more of for a while.
5. Take one more look around. Are there any toys that might benefit from being put away for a while? Maybe a Christmas gift that they are just not quite ready for? Or they have too many of, and saving some until the first set are complete worn out, might spread out the fun? (I’m thinking the five million sets of Legos, the mountain of craft supplies, or dress-up clothes that have gotten out of hand)
6. Or do you just have way too many items for your space? One idea is to organize the toys in large plastic bins and rotate them every few months. You can organize toys by season as well, which will help keep them new and interesting, and might also create an unintended family tradition! I know I always loved when it was warm enough to pull out the summer water toys as a kid. Why not extend this concept and have a winter/fall/spring box – both for indoor and outdoor toys?

Finally, before you put any toys in the donate or give away pile, or store them away for the season, grab your container of disinfectant wipes and give everything a good scrubbing. No reason to pass along cooties as well as toys, right?

To link to today’s Assignment #4, Please click the link below!

ASSIGNMENT #3: Creating “Stations”

Hello everyone and I apologize for the delay! Life got in the way once again! (Has a way doing that doesn’t it?)

Today’s assignment is easy. During this month-long challenge, you’re going to need “stations” for things in process. Since in my particular move, our stuff will be going in different shipments, then I need to have ways to organize each of these. Perhaps as you begin, you need to create a “goes to storage” shipment (I wouldn’t actually suggest shoving stuff down in your basement until we get to the point where we start sorting/purging the basement, though!). Or perhaps you need a “goes to charity” or “prep for consignment sale” pile.

Regardless, I have found it easiest if I pre-plan these stations. Often this will be a corner of my living room! In this move, I’ll probably have a living room corner, entry way space, playroom (basement space) corner, and eventually our car port will have to hold stuff as well. For those family members who are a bit clueless about this crazy challenge you’ve started here, a good idea might be to label each area with a sign – “Consignment sale pile – DO NOT TOUCH.” Or “To Storage Area.” It might help ease the mind of your significant other that you have not gone off the deep end and become a crazy hoarder piling things to the ceiling. 😉

My husband is at the point where he just ignores me, he’s so used to it. But I do have to point the piles out and ask him to please stop cleaning up after me, there is a method to my madness!

And it might look like madness for a little bit, I admit. But there is a plan to this madness, and it will all improve by the end of the month!

To link to today’s Assignment #3, Please click the link below!

ASSIGNMENT #2: FOOD STUFF= Fridge, Freezer, Pantry, “Stash”

Okay, remember that in our imaginary upcoming move, we’ll be doing a MAJOR move (think a cross-country move situation), which means we can’t just pack all our fridge items in a box and drive them down the street and put them in our new fridge! Nope! So we need to use it up and get rid of it!

(FYI: IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not a kitchen challenge. You are not supposed to be spending days, weeks, months working room-by-room. No, remember we have to finish THE ENTIRE HOUSE this month. What does this mean? This means this is a SPEED PURGE/ORGANIZATIONAL challenge. You just don’t have time to tarry on one room. You get one day to finish this assignment, and then we move on. That is it. If you catch yourself installing shelf paper or redecorating, you have strayed off topic. If you get these kinds of ideas, great. But don’t do them. Just write them down, and you can schedule them in after this month and this challenge is done. REMEMBER, IF YOU CATCH YOURSELF THINKING HARD, THEN YOU NEED TO STOP. JUST MAKE A DECISION AND MOVE ON.)

For those of you who aren’t really moving, of course you’re not really going to get rid of everything in your freezer. Instead, think of this as a “Use It Up” Challenge.

So, we have one month to use up everything we have and get rid of the rest! The first step is to quickly go through each area and do a quick purge of anything that has expired and toss it. Make a stack of anything that you know your family is not going to really eat. You know, we’ve all got those random things because they were on sale and it turns out that no one will touch it with a ten foot pole. Find a local food pantry and donate it all.

You need to do this for each area you keep food in your house. Fridge, freezer (above the fridge), pantry, any deep freezers. Plus, if you are a coupon-er, or have a stash of extra somewhere, you need to go through that as well. Again, you need to do all of these areas in one day, so keep trucking through and get it done!

Take this opportunity to review what you have and what you need. Perhaps you wanna create a list of items you commonly use and can alway afford to stock up on (especially if you prefer a specific brand, etc.). That way when you see a great deal out there, you are ready to take advantage for things you will actually use.

Then, take a mini inventory of what you already have. How many meals can you create out of ingredients you already own? How many other meals do you just need one or two things?

Finally, create a meal plan for the whole month. Pull out that lovely calendar you prepared yesterday and write down the meals you plan to make. Use up the items you already have. Sure, you might get an odd, mismatched meal here or there; but won’t it be great to also save on your grocery bill right this month?

Only buy what you can’t possibly live without this month. Don’t go stocking up on great deals and sales. The idea is to empty out the fridge, freezer, and pantry of everything that’s been sitting there forever. Just because your kids want a particular snack that is on sale, even though you have twenty other kinds on hand, is not a reason to buy it right now. USE UP WHAT YOU HAVE.

The idea is that when we “move out” at the end of the month, we’re not looking at mountains of wasted money in the form of food we have to toss or give away. (I am not kidding, no matter how well I try to do this at the end of every move, we still lose hundreds of dollars in extra food that we have to give away every single time. My goal this time is to leave here having eating all the food we have here, only having the open condiments in the fridge left to find a good home.

Tomorrow’s assignments: will include creating “stations” prepping for the major purge/sort process. Just to get you prepared!

To link to today’s Assignment #2, Please click the link below!

It’s the first of the year and today we begin!

Here is ASSIGNMENT #1.

I know many of you are playing along with me, pretending to move when in actuality, you’re not. You’re just along for the ride. Which is awesome, because I really do think that this will be really helpful to you. And the more of you that participate, the more support/accountability I have!

So to participate in this challenge, you need to FULLY jump into the “pretending” that you are about to execute a major move. Not just across town where you can do it yourself by the truckload. I want you to put yourself in a situation where you have to think about how in the world would you make a major move with moving trucks and all that. Or, if you were in the position where you might have to downsize your home (since I’ve just done both, both of those scenarios work!). You are going to have to look at your home, your stuff and your LIFE with a fresh pair of eyes. A completely new perspective.

And since I will actually be moving and doing all this by the end of the month, I will be writing and talking about this with “moving language.” Of course, take from this whatever you can. I just don’t want to confuse anyone by going back and forth from “fake scenario A” and “fake scenario B”, so I will write in my own scenario/situation.

The first part of participating is FULLY CHANGING YOUR MINDSET. One thing I have learned, which I have also realized is very different from how many perceive this, is that when you have to pack up and move, and unpack and find places to put things, over and over and over and over and over and over (you get the idea), that your relationship with those things changes.

There is nothing wrong with stuff. And frankly, I’m the most sentimental person in my family. I’m the one who is into scrapbooking and preserving stories, and I am the one who is interested in family history, and I’m the one who attaches crazy sentimental value on many things. (which is much worse around Christmas time!)

However, when you have to move often in a limited time frame, you start to think differently about stuff. It becomes a chore. Then an irritation. Then a total pain in the backside. And one day you have a crazy flip out over an innocent stack of magazines, ripping them to shreds and trashing them, all while cursing the day you ever thought you’d actually read them. Or the time you realized you had over nine huge plastic bins of baby clothes. For ages 0-12 months. That because the seasons were flipped, your second child will probably never wear any of them. And you go berserk, creating a massive yard sale campaign to get rid of them all, and eventually just start mailing boxes of clothes to your unsuspecting pregnant friends, just so you don’t have to look at them anymore. Oh wait. That’s just me.

But you do create a very different perception to what is a) important/necessary for living (pots and pans, kids toys, sheets/towels, etc.) b) what’s fun to have and good for mental health (hobby items, scrapbooking stuff, etc.) c) what you need for emotional health and or has SIGNIFICANT sentimental/emotional value (holiday decorations, stuff needed for family traditions, and other items with sentimental value), and d) dead weight junk.

I do something very similar to this challenge every single time we move. (This will be my seventh time going through this process since I got married seven years ago.) And every single time I do this I am amazed by how much MORE stuff I get rid of. I swear, stuff breeds like rabbits or gremlins when you are not looking.

The first part of changing your mindset is looking at every single item in your house as a “stuff” that has to be moved. Whether you are limited by funds (how expensive it is to hire a moving truck) or by weight (you can only move a certain amount of weight, or only have a certain size container that you are allowed to fill) YOU NOW HAVE A LIMIT to how much “stuff” you can own, and move. That point is really important. THERE IS A LIMIT TO HOW MUCH STUFF YOU CAN HAVE (OR MOVE). In my case, we can move 7,000 pounds. Which sounds like a lot, but is not. And the closer we get to that mark, the less “cool things” I can go out and buy while I’m living in all these cool countries overseas. (P.S. Packing materials also count in that 7,000 pound limit, so you whatever amount of stuff you thought you could fit in that amount? Yeah, cut it down further.)

The second part of this challenge is a time limit. Most of the times I have done this on my own, I’ve given myself long stretches of time to go through and purge/organize – like six months, where I work on one little project a week. Not this time. This time I have less than one month, because I want the packers here the last week of January and we need to be fully out of the house with it ready for renters BEFORE FEBRUARY 1st. (Yes, we have packers/movers. In your own pretend scenario you might be filling that role yourself. Just realize that you might have to talk about yourself in the third person in that case!) So, for the sake of the challenge your time limit is ONE MONTH. We’ll be doing this the whole of January. However, I want that thought of time constraints running through your mind this whole month. Even if this is “pretend” for you, you must think about that countdown to February 1 to get it all completed. Not only is this to motivate you to keep going and not flake out, but also, having that kind of deadline is going to start to inform the decisions you have to make, which is a vital part of the process.

We will talk about prioritizing, sentimental value, purging, organization, and time issues more later on.

A) PLAN/SCHEDULE.

Step one: set up your detailed calendar for the month and create your plan. To do all of this in such time constraints as I’ve given us, you are going to have to be HYPER organized for the next 31 days. (This is not easy, even for me.) The best way I’ve found to handle this sort of thing is to have my calendar completely filled in with everything I need to do, down to the last detail. This will be something you will need on a constant, daily basis going forward to make sure nothing falls through the cracks, either with this challenge or the rest of “real life.” So, make sure you account for anything you might already have scheduled. Basically, be ready to go gung-ho!

B) TO-DO LISTS.

Step two: I will go into more insane detail in the future, but for today, start making lists. Of everything you personally need to do as part of this challenge. I find it helpful to categorize things. My own lists often end up several pages long, I won’t lie. But I also find it vital to write down every single little thing because I can’t afford for anything to fall through the cracks. My DH likes to create spreadsheets for himself, but personally I’m fine with a notebook and scratching things off. So make your list however you might like.

And what should be on this list? Well, remember, in your pretend scenario, you are about to make a major, life-changing move. (ie. moving across the country, etc.) So, what kind of stuff would that entail for you and your family? Sure, in real life you don’t need to go get copies of your kids’ school records and medical records to take with you, but as part of this exercise, I would encourage you to take 15 minutes today and brainstorm about ALL POSSIBILITIES. Because you might come with several things that would be very useful regardless. Like making sure you know where important family documents are at all times (kids’ shot records, birth certificates, etc) and that would lead you to writing down “create specific file for each person’s important documents” that you will do this month.

Once I do mine, I will give you guys examples of things that are on my list. And many of those topics will end up being future daily challenge assignments. But to get you started, in addition to the general organizational purge, collecting important documents, phone calls/appointments needed to be made, dealing with logistical side of the move, paperwork, those are sort of the topics I tend to start brainstorming and creating my lists around.

C) MINDLESS GET ‘ER DONE PROJECTS.

I know that tomorrow and on the next few days, there will be a lot of time where you will want to sit down and chill out in front of the TV. Bowl games, favorite shows you like to watch at night, etc. So, during this monthly challenge, I encourage you to take advantage of those times! As you go through this, make a to-do list of mindless items you can do while doing something else. Then, get everything you need for that particular chore, and put it all together right beside your couch. That way you will have everything together and ready to go, so you won’t have any excuses. I suggest having 3 “chores” ready to go at any time. Unfortunately, this month you don’t get the luxury of “downtime!” We’ll get all of that we want once the movers are gone! Don’t give yourself any chores that are going to require lots of brain power. Shredding, filing, organizing paperwork, dealing with receipts for taxes, etc are several ideas that I often do. And don’t hesitate to delegate things to other family members! DH can easily shred documents while watching a game, etc.

So that’s for today. Calendar prep, to-do lists, and prep Get ‘Er Done projects. Tomorrow’s assignment: we will start with organizing/sorting/purging food/pantry items. The next assignment after that will be creating “stations” prepping for the major purge/sort process. Just to get you prepared!

To link to today’s Assignment #1, Please click the link below!