The Reveal...The Living Room

Well, I knew the hardest thing to do would be to go through my books and papers, so I tackled that first, but once I started it wasn't so painful. One might see my assortment of really important stuff and see me as a hoarder, but for me it is that "What If." What if I need this? What if I want to read this? What if I go back to teaching?

• If I needed it that bad, I'd be using it or would have used it in the recent past. If not, it goes.
• If I want to read it, I would have by now. Let someone else enjoy it. I can get it at the library if I get around to it later on.
• If I ever go back to teaching, well, things change, and whatever I have will have been replaced by then with newer and better methods.

It's time to let go of the what if's that are cluttering my life.

Another thing that really helped me with this project was to look at as if I were moving into a tiny house. Tiny houses do not have room for clutter or what if's. Besides, I feel calmer and work more efficiently when my world around me is not in chaos, but isn't that true for most of us?

What I ended up with was a clean, un-cluttered living room, a full trash can, and a box-load of goodies for a yard sale.  And without further ado...

And to remind you of what this room looked like last week, here's the link to my blog post with the before photos.  Looking forward to next week's challenge.

I Accepted the 91 Day De-Clutter Challenge

I came across the 91 Day De-Clutter Event while browsing on facebook last week.  My home could use a "little" de-cluttering and the time frame looks reasonable, so what they hey.  I'm in. 

As you can see Week #1 focuses on the living room, and yes, mine could use some work.  Our biggest problem is a too small home and not enough storage space. This week I am going to find things we don't absolutely need and decide if they will be put aside for our upcoming yard sale or donated to my favorite thrift shop or headed for the trash.

The challenge couldn't be easier.  There are two options; a quick de-clutter method or a more thorough detailed method. This week, I'm opting for the detailed approach.  To go with this challenge, even though it makes me cringe, I am taking before and after pictures. (To put things in perspective, I have moved A LOT.  In my whole adult life I don't think I've lived in any one place longer than three years. I've gotten used to boxes. I do not like it, but it's the truth.)

So, here are my unedited before pics of the areas I will be working on.

                                           (Sophie stays.)                   The curse of the horizontal surface, plus a recently
                                                                                      re-acquired box of photos. The boxes under the
                                                                                      futon are for work. They have to stay.

                                     I used to have a nice desk         The books. This will be hard. A
                                     and I will again. I miss it.          bookcase would help a lot.

Wish me luck...I'm going in.