Make a few changes, be more organized.

We're "fortunate" to have a lot of stuff. I say "fortunate" because I've come to a place where I no longer think all this "fortune" is necessary. I've started my quest to not only de-clutter but to de-own. All the organization magazines and books say that if it has a place it can stay and if it doesn't have a place it needs to go. So I've made sure: things have a place and that all the things that don't have a place are slowly making their way out the door. For instance, the other day we (and I mean Sean totally by himself because he's so sweet) lugged three bags of clothes, two bags of books and two bags of shoes to the donation bins down the street. And yet, sometimes, I just feel cluttered. Things accumulate so quickly, don't they? One minute our counters are clean and with one trip to the mailbox -- they're totally covered in flyers and bills and coupons for stores I don't even shop at. Or the bathroom -- it's totally clean but by the time I finish getting ready each day the counter is filled with lotions and potions that I don't even remember applying. And laundry? Somehow laundry makes a mess in the whole apartment. 

In the past few days, I realized that it's probably not okay to just throw away things in mass quantities. Maybe some would disagree but there were a few days there that Sean really thought he was going to come home to nothing at all in our apartment. So rather than throw away items that our money has paid for and that in lots of cases we actually use and enjoy I decided to get my fix of de-cluttering in other, slightly smaller, ways.

1. Merge email accounts and organize emails into folders: I have so many email addresses; two for personal use, one for my blog, one for ebay, one for work... I mean, seriously, why? In about two minutes I was able to merge all my email accounts (I left my work one alone), and about twenty-five minutes later (it probably could have been quicker but I got a tiny bit sidetracked by emails from Expedia) all my emails for all my accounts were organized into folders. It's great because I no longer need to log into multiple emails. They're all in one place. It helps to unsubscribe to companies that send you emails all the time but that you don't want to receive. That's my next step. 

2. Clean out my purse: Why am I saving receipts from Chipotle? Why can't I ever just put my debit card back into my wallet? Why is my Marc Jacobs bag a dumping ground when I'm on the go, when I want to clean out my car or even when I need to clear off all the mail from the dining room table? There's really no need for it, and when my bag is clean and organized I feel so much better. It takes a few minutes, why not do it?

3. Fold the clothes in my dresser: Whenever I go through clothes, it doesn't have to be because I'm getting rid of them. Every now and then, I like to take every single thing out of my dresser, fold it (I don't know how they're getting unfolded?) and then just put everything back in the drawers. It gives the illusion I've just thrown away a bunch of stuff but really it's all just neat and tidy.

4. Delete the DVR, just do it: I'm one of those serial recorders. When I like a show I DVR it every single time it's on... on any channel. This means that at any given time I could have over 30 episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Criminal Minds, Boy Meets World, Chelsea Handler... the list goes on. Whenever I feel the need to clean out something but can't find trash bags -- I go straight to the DVR. I just pick a couple of random episodes, spend a few minutes deleting them rather than 30 minutes each (give or take) watching them all and just watch as the space on the DVR frees up.

5. Take out the recyclables: When all else fails, actually take things outside that you're planning to get rid of anyway. We recycle a lot. And our FOUR recycling bins (plastic, paper, glass, aluminum) are right by the door. This means they're the first things I see when I walk in, they're the last things I see before I leave and they're all right there every time I'm in the kitchen and glance down the hallway. It's hard work (and kind of annoying) trying to be green when I want a neat house and all these bottles and cans and jars and papers are constantly cluttering up my apartment. The nerve. So when it gets too much to handle, and when I feel like it's weighing me down -- I bring all the bins to the recycling center. It takes less than five minutes and feels good to know I'm getting rid of things I don't want, need or use. And sometimes, Sean does it for us. So it's even better. And five minutes later, I have empty bins by the front door and it's relaxing rather than chaotic.

So there you have it. Five quick and easy things I do to help re-organize, de-clutter and de-own. If you had 10 minutes to clean up one area, how would you spend your time?

Home Tour: Guest Room

Sean and I moved into our loft in January. When we checked out the building we fell in love instantly and there was never a question in either of our minds that we needed to live here. The building itself is from the 1800s or something so it's really old. But they've renovated the inside and we're the first people to live here -- in fact, we were one of the first people to move into the entire building... which is huge and when it was empty it was a little creepy. Now, we wish we were still the only people here because we enjoyed the perks of choosing a parking spot close to the door, and the quietness in the hallways.

It's been 3 months since moving in -- and we've made some progress in making it a home. We don't have that much furniture and some areas look really bare. But it's a start.

I thought I would show one room a day. So here is our second bedroom.

This is the one piece of new furniture we bought for this room. It's perfect for scrapbooking and all my stuff. 

Two confessions: I still haven't put a real picture in that Vera Wang frame and I still haven't bought a chair so I have yet to use the desk...

This is what I mean by bare. We're planning on getting a couch and maybe a cute end table. Oh, and we plan on hanging those mirrors in the left corner as well as those guitars in the right corner...

Hopefully within the next few months we can complete this room and make it a usable craft/guestroom/office complete with a couch, better lighting (for night time), some pictures on the walls and less piles of stuff around the perimeter of the room.

And yes, that's my veil hanging on that light...

Happy April!

We had a really great free weekend filled with a movie night, scrapbooking, and dinner with friends.

We've never used Redbox before but I'd say it was pretty successful. Unfortunately, I didn't pick the best movies. Honestly, I thought Bad Teacher was funny, Young Adult was awkward and I just felt sad for her, and What's Your Number could have been 45 minutes shorter.

On Sunday, I decided to clean my closet because it was looking like this...

But after an hour it looked like this!

Sean informed me that he's been noticing my clothes/shoes/bags have been migrating across the room into his closet. So I guess next weekend I should probably work on his closet, too. 

Going through all my clothes had me thinking about the 30 x 30 fashion challenge found here.

I read about it a while ago and thought it sounded interesting but now I'm actually intrigued and considering it. Supposedly, we only wear 20% of our clothing 80% of the time. I have to say I agree with that. I know I definitely wear the same things over and over and I'm not that good about putting together different outfits with the same items. But I think it's a challenge I'd be willing to try. 

I guess you really have to be smart about the 30 items you choose to wear!

:)