We’re half-way through our year-long crazy, hair-brained idea of mine to either reduce the amount of ‘stuff’ and clutter in our house or move. The “52 weeks of home organization projects” has definitely been interesting and has people talking. The burning question most everyone asks is:
“Are you really, actually, cleaning out the – fill in the blank – areas you write about or are you just making it up for something to put on the blog?”
Well, yes, I am/we are – but Brad is even more reluctant about this project – actually doing all of these home organization projects and it has not been fun. I considered quitting and throwing in the towel a couple of times but if I’m nothing else in life, I stick to things once I start them. Is stick-to-it-ness a word? If it is – that’s me!
When I started out on this project I hadn’t really thought about a couple of things. One, how much work it would actually be. And two, how much it would really start to change my thinking about bringing more things into our house. I always thought we were pretty good about keeping our “things” (clothes, furniture, etc.) minimized, but having to go through – every stinkin’ week – and clean out and organize a different part of the house makes one think long and hard about any new items that may come in next.
It has truly become a mental check on buying anything non-consumable. I’m really questioning everything:
“Do I really need that new T-shirt? Don’t I have a few others just like it – or very similar – in my closet?”
“Do we need another cutting board? Brad, don’t you have an old one in the basement, that you were going to fix up?”
“Oh, that’s a neat metal basket, I’m sure I could use it to store something, somewhere? But what about all the others, not to mention baskets, bowls etc. that are already in the house?”
I love to shop but the idea of thinking through the future history of the item – where is it going to go in our house? Will it replace something else? It’s going to need dusting and at some point IT is going to need to be gotten rid of. This makes me question what I’m considering buying – or picking up free off the side of the road – which I’ve been known to do.
So, the projects will continue for the NEXT 26 weeks and believe me there are some doozies in there. We keep putting off our decrepit, old garage and dusty, claustrophobic basement tool closet, and my beloved sewing studio.The pictures of these projects may not be appropriate for the web!
So settle in with me, pick your areas that need it the most, and let’s finish this thing! We’re half-way through and next year – stop me before I sign myself up for another year-long project, please.
Are you half-way through your home organization project? What’s your area you keep putting off?
Go Gingham related links:
How to organize those recipes and cookbooks – but no burning books!
National Match-Up Day: A step-by-step on how to clean and organize your food storage containers!
Organizing recipes and set-up binders for the collection – you’ll be so glad once you do
As part of our New Year’s resolution, we’re cleaning out a different area of our house every week this year. Find all of the “weekly home organization projects” – or click the image below.
Go Gingham 
So Sarah, did you “do” a project this week or did you take a break to celebrate the Fourth? You certainly deserve to take a break!
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Hi Carroll!
I most certainly took a break 🙂
This post was written when I did the previous week. That doesn’t usually happen…usually I’m typing away at 5pm on Friday because we’ve just finished a project!
Thanks for thinking of me and deserving a break.
How was your Fourth of July?
Thank you for writing in…
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We had a pretty quiet Fourth, both my sons were working. When we sold our house 3 years ago, we downsized in a huge way and I find that there are some things I’m missing, not nearly as much as I thought I would though. It’s an awful lot of work!
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My simple little mind never contemplated that your cleaning/decluttering project was a gimmicky item for your blog. I just thought you were more ambitious than I am!
I still would like to declutter my bedroom and my basement shelves. We had a wet basement in June which affected my ability to get to those projects, so I wouldn’t say I’ve been avoiding them as much as my attention was necessarily diverted. 🙂 And I’m with your above commenter–I believe it’s a good thing to take an occasional break!
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Hah! I’m not sure if I’m more ambitious than you or not….
I do know that I don’t want my house to end up like an estate sale – lots of stuff for someone to sort through when I’m a little ol’ lady – and me having to look at the stuff for ages!
And, I did take a break last week. Camping!! Very fun but no fish were caught.
Hope you had a good holiday weekend. 🙂
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I took everything out of the bookcase in the guest room, dusted it, vacuumed behind it, and put part of the things back. I really had to; a couple of toiletries that I can’t live without went down behind the bookcase.
My most dreaded chore is the backlog of paper filing. I have about a month’s worth, but I have decided to just jump in with the current papers and work backwards. I keep thinking I will get an all-in-one printer so I can scan items, but my current printer works fine. Also, there are papers that need to remain in their original form.
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Oh, Karen, too bad you ‘had’ to clean out that bookcase but I bet it feels good to get it done!
The paperwork can really be a problem, can’t it? I’m working on a stack right now that keeps growing. Sometimes my husband will say, “Let’s just do 5 minutes of paperwork.” Really, then I get going on it but it’s the getting started part that I don’t like!
The printer part is a problem. We had to get a new printer because the old one only worked with our ancient computers. I don’t like it when companies make us buy new items.
Hope you had a good, long weekend! 🙂
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Go, Sara, Go! I love this project of yours. Like you, I feel that we do a pretty good job of being mindful about bringing new things in. And yet, it seems like we are always making regular trips to the Salvation Army to drop things off. I haven’t really felt tempted to join you in this project (even as I’ve enjoyed watching you do it), but this post is making me want to join in. A project that changes my thinking about something (as yours is doing for you) is always enticing.
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Rita, come on into the project!! 🙂
I just shook my head at my sewing studio in the basement – Blah!! Tomorrow is my day to tackle it. Look for it to take a couple of weeks. It’s in the basement so will be a welcomed treat from the heat.
Hope you had a good holiday weekend!
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Keep up the good work. And thanks for trying a project that goes on for 52 weeks, so the rest of us bloggers don’t have to! 😉
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🙂
Thanks, EFB! I have an idea for next year’s weekly post but it’s easier than this one. Even though I said I wasn’t going to do it – there I go again.
Hope you had a great holiday weekend!
Thanks for writing in so often.
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I love to pop by to see your latest challenge area! Never for a moment did I think it was fake – and ANYTHING can be blogable, I know that, so I’m totally ok if you made it up knowing you’d have blog content 😀
The posts have made me realise how much I don’t want to upsize my home! We have one more bedroom than we honestly need or use now. The BF used to use it a lot, as the desktop was in there, but since I bought him a laptop, he seldom goes in there. A guest room is lovely, but it needs a lot of use in my opinion, to earn it’s space!
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SarahN, I adore your attitude!! I agree that a guest room is lovely but how often do we have guests? For us, not often enough to have an entire room devoted to it.
Thanks so much for sharing…and agreed – no need to up-size. 🙂
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