Sunday, May 31, 2015

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!

Sunday, May 17, 2015

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?


Monday, May 4, 2015

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









Saturday, May 2, 2015

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



Friday, May 1, 2015

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...