Into the woods, er, garage

Remember when I said I was 

heading out to the garage next 

for my purge/organizing quest?

Well, I've been out there for many many days.

Purged through every box and bin

 and scrubbed and cleaned. Whew!

Emptied out six bins and 14 boxes.

Then I took one side and turned it into another

studio space for painting and classes.

This involved painting and hinging together

4 shutters, 3 coats of paint each side,

a dresser that had to be stripped A LOT

and then painted...

but the sides were too damaged,

so after all that work I added burlap to it instead.

I still have garage ceiling to paint

 and lighting and, and, and....

Stay tuned.

I'll show you my VERY organized 

garage and studio very soon.

Four carloads of stuff over to the warehouse

and Ronda and I have so much more stuff

(how is that possible?)

to sell this Saturday the 6th, 

as she is purging big time in

anticipation of a move.

Local gals, let me know if you want to 

preview and purchase early. 

You will soon get email

with details if you are on my email list.

It's going to 105 today. oy vey!

Mad Men

Mad Man

My Father

DJR

If you're a fan of the show, you have heard

Ketchum and BBDO mentioned

several times.

Dad worked at both agencies in Pittsburgh

during the 50's and 60's.

He moved to Kennametal in Latrobe, PA

and worked there 2 decades until his retirement.

Advertising man through and through,

who forever influenced my appreciation of

a clever "turn of phrase".

He would be astounded by how 

social media controls advertising these days.

Anyone else been binge watching?

Heart To Heart to HomeTalk

 I left home at 21 so I have 

over 40 years of accumulating

stuff,organizing it, and storing it.

I have also purged hundreds of items, 

no, more like thousands of pieces of my own STUFF

and I cannot begin to guess at the thousands of 

client's belongings I have sifted, 

sorted, trashed, bagged, donated and 

wrangled into submission.

and yet....

I continue to purge frequently.

WHY?

I'll tell you a secret..

the stuff breeds

No other explanation....

As I reviewed the pics I recently shared,

I noticed many items that I never or rarely use.

Granted, they are all neat and tidy and I have 

created efficient ways to store them, but 

why would I keep them?

While I've pondered this a lot lately, my good friend 

Sue has said "but you have the space

 to store them and your house is all clean and tidy

so what does it hurt?"

Granted.. I do not have overstuffed drawers, 

unidentified boxes or bins, crowded

closets that you have to push the door closed

with your hip but still...

Why should I keep a food mill that I might use 

every two years, or 4 -9"cake pans 

for the rare occasion I bake 

2 double layer cakes at the same time? (never) 

and I baked only one cake in all of last year!

So I am going to switch gears on you

from the organizing posts I had planned.

To start with 

I am going to re-show you that cupboard

on the porch. All nice and tidy..

I am going to give myself 

a heart to heart to home talk

 and show you what happens.

I will honestly tell you and show

you how I work through this.

egads

How I plan to rid myself of

Just In Case Items that are 

so unnecessary.

JICI items are now my enemy.

Over the years I have read of several plans 

to de-clutter

1st day- throw out one item

2nd day - throw out 2  

etc for 30 days

(I know folks who would count post it notes and pencils)

OR

pick a number of items of clothing say

100 and edit down till you reach that goal.

Now both of these and others are said to work

and I do believe they help you concentrate

 on your needs versus your wants,

but none of us live in the same spaces,

with the same amount of family members,

in the same climates,

with same job wardrobes etc...

A person living in 5,000 sq feet making $300,000

a year who entertains clients and friends every weekend

has different needs than my daughter,

living in 400 sq feet who meets friends out for dinner,
freelances and crosses her fingers for income.

So a heart to heart to home

for each of us is crucial.

I am an excellent purger,

organizer, and tidiness freak,
always have been,

and yet I have JICI's by the bagful..

now known to me as "jickies".

If a constant purger and organizer
 can down size, what can you accomplish?

I have no idea if I can do this

as well as I hope to,

but follow along and watch me 

succeed or flop...

I promise to be 100% honest,

and I may hit some bumps,

so feel free to call me on it.

My stomach just clenched,

when I looked up and noticed my paperbacks.

I love the look of my mini library....

Oh no!

What have I done?

Thank heavens I'm not starting in this room!
*********************
Ten minutes later
I had this....

with this...

headed out the door

On the top shelf were some float glasses

and vintage juice glasses from

my Grandmother.

I decided to get rid of my plain juice glasses 

from the kitchen and swap out for the yellow ones.

I'll enjoy using these much more.

I tested the amount of liquid 

held by another set of glasses I

frequently use (on the left) and discovered it held

 more than the specialty 

float glasses so out they go.

I also purged..

 *1 glass covered cake plate - kept one

 *some tupperware I never use

because other storage containers

 work just as well.

* the aforementioned food mill

*plastic popcorn holders cute but not necessary

*a fourth springform pan

(I kept mixed set of three sizes)

I had kept this fourth one cause it had the neat

raised insert which I never used!

*a small rice cooker 

lost my mind at 3 am on QVC one night....

I will give to whichever kid wants it.

* small barbecue tools I got for son

who has since moved and sold his barbecue

Since I took the pic I also purged the brown snack set

on the second shelf.

I am struggling with the vintage bowl stack..

occasionally used BUT>>they are JICIS

Then I hit the candle cupboard and purged into a box all 2/3rds

used up candles and scents I did not like.

A friend said she wanted them.

This freed up two drawers.

One I filled with extra outdoor candle holders

that were in a box in the garage;

and I still have one empty drawer, 

and more space on garage shelf.

None too shabby for ten minutes, eh?

Getting the idea?

Getting the groove?

I am psyched!

z

Into the Closets

Are you still with me?

I've shown a lot of this before

but there are new folks visiting so...

This is the pantry.

Note the extra storage on door  

and baskets often can hold 

more items in less space.

No ant issues ever with jars.

Above the  washer and dryer I added 

shelves right after I moved in.

Wicker trays, serving trays, pizza peels, cookie racks,

oversized casseroles all find a home.

Baskets hold hangers for delicates and hanging.

They also hold letters for my church sign,

plastic rubbermaid storage containers,

to-go tumblers, and metal bakeware.

I added more shelves tucked into the corner for 

appliances. Wraps find a home on an angled wall

up out of the way;

again freeing up drawer space in kitchen.

See the basket tucked back on the floor?

There are two of them. 

One for kitchen towels waiting to be

washed and one for cleaning rags.

Also see the rod coming out from wall?

That holds pant hangers used for drip dry.

The entire closet is covered by floor to ceiling

 corduroy curtains that I love, 

that I got from Ikea many years ago.

Last but not least, a fold up and out

hanger for drip dry on the back of garage door.

Now many of you have more space,

more closets, attics, basements.

Some have smaller homes.

Some of you also have storage issues

regardless of size.

We all have the same home keeping issues.

I am showing ways to add storage 

within your own footprint,

regardless of footage.

I am hoping to spark your imagination.

There are many posts

about organization that you can find by

searching in top left bar or 

in labels section on right sidebar.

As always before organizing, do a good purge.

We all, unless you live in a "tiny" house

 (under 350 sq feet)

have more than we need.

But then again, they prove

how LITTLE we do NEED.

It's Spring, get crackin',

you'll be amazed at how good it feels.

I am overhauling the garage.

I will show when complete.

Look here to see how DD lives in 

a wee organized space of 400'

Enjoy your weekends 

chickadees 

Z

More to Discover

On the porch a vintage cupboard

Filled with seldom used kitchen stuff,

more outdoor candle holders, popcorn maker

tupperware used only for large holiday, rice cooker etc.

A dresser normally in a bedroom

 does fabulous storage duty.

Very deep drawers hold scads of items.

From stationery to holiday paper products, 

summer outdoor tablecloths, 

recipe folders, cookbooks and more

Anything long and skinny goes here:

Chopsticks, drinking straws, plastic serve ware

magnets, cheese servers, etc.

Another drawer in kitchen made available

for other supplies.

I only use cloth napkins, so I have many....

The porch is right off the kitchen making

 all of this easy to grab.

My platters, pitchers, and cake plates are stored 

out in the open and

look pretty. Yes, I need to do a 

quick wash before using, 

but that takes just a minute.

Next time you are feeling overcrowded

with stuff look at your arrangements

 and maybe repurpose furniture for

a different use, and keep an eagle eye out

for sets of drawers and cupboards

when attending fleas, auctions and garage sales.

Because I store items in so many ways,

the usual storage places like kitchen drawers

and closets can be kept neat and tidy

because nothing is overcrowded.

When things are tidy,

you can find everything

 and clean it much easier.

Hope some of these 

give you ideas for your home.

More are coming...