Dark Chocolate Visions of a Simplified Home

Lately I've been going through alot of my stuff in the house, trying to weed out and organized things that I've had for a while and stuff that is newly coming into our home.

I ask myself,"Why is it important to me to have this all organized?"

Besides making my house a chaotic mess, I have many answers in my head to support my conviction. One is the peace of mind I get from having a place to put my things. Ahhh, it's as if I ate a piece of dark chocolate. I can see it now, sitting back on my sofa, with nothing to clean up because it's all in its place. Nothing left to do but dream up projects... and...um... do them!

Hmm... I may be closer to the truth... I have a bit of a guilt complex when it comes to focusing on projects when there are dishes, laundry, cooking, shopping, cleaning to be done. I know, this is normal life in a home, but I keep trying to rebel against it. With a baby brewing, I realize my chores will only increase...
But....
I will continue my search for solace in organization and simplification.

So far, I have built all the bookshelves in the living room area that are needed, and am now ready to enter the bedrooms. First, our bedroom, then, the guest room.

The Problem/Mess #1
My guest room is mimicking a storage/closet/baby/sewing room.

The Plan
Build wardrobe in master bedroom to move my closet (and some of Jason's) into, thereby creating a place for sewing/craft supplies (all the stuff on the bed).

Thoughts
This will not entirely solve my problem, but move some stuff to a permanent place, and other stuff to a purgatory of sorts.

On the Bright Side
As these structures come to life, I find that the chaos is slowly disappearing. Maybe it's all the chocolate I've been eating... but I'm starting to see some blue skies.

Hints
When I decided to fight The Mess, I found that putting things in piles helped to make organizing more manageable. After widdling down to 6 piles, we invested in plastic storage boxes, which are easy to stack and carry.

Some Difficult Things to Weed
Clothing: I have gotten rid of many items, but still have alot (in my opinion, but I've seen worse). As I buy new clothes, I purchase more "sportive" pieces that are interchangeable, breathable, and well made. During pregnancy I have benefited from my old "big" clothes, and the thrift store. I do have a few pieces that I wear maybe once a year, but that is my choice, and I'd rather keep them than wish I had them...

Photos: Many of our photos are in digital these days, but I do have 2 huge boxes that are filled with photographs. I haven't started this project, yet, but I plan to stuff all the photos in albums unprejudiced, stick them on a shelf, then later, organize them. We'll see what actually comes about...

Knick knacks: We don't have too many, but we do have them. I often imagine leading the life of a traveler... I could only have a few bare essentials... However, we do live in house, so it is not such a big deal to have a few miscellaneous things lying around. I do want to get rid of what is not important to us, as I feel we don't have room for such things, and they actually take up precious time and space.

Homemade Spice shelves Make Space, and a Renewed passion for the Power Drill

Last weekend, after being prompted by Jason to get my stuff off the floor, I decided to devote a whole day to a slow paced carpentry lesson, which seemed to help me forget my nausea. I pretty much had the boards cut to size, the quarter-round measured, and Jason was there to guide me along the way. Both shelves are serving to clear up some cabinet space. The shelf to the left holds all my spices, and the shelf to the right holds all my teas and mugs. In this process I ended up weeding out my cabinets of miscellaneous jars (now donated to Jason's future shed), and plastic tupperware, which I am scheming to get completely out of my house (they are so awkward to store.)

All in all, I am very happy with this project and feel encouraged to get on that built-in bookshelf that I've been dreaming about. It shouldn't take too long, especially with my new power drill skills, and it will immediately clear up another big section of space--a freestanding bookshelf which will be also donated to Jason's future shed.

Speaking of the shed, Jason got his plans revised and renewed. He also got his beam joints in the mail the other day. So now all he needs to do is pick up his beams that have been cut and are waiting on him at the saw mill. Then we'll see some action! I cannot wait, because not only will he have a kickin' workshop, we'll have loads more space in our utility room, which has been housing misc. tools, garden supplies, and such that currently won't fit into the cluttered 6'x 10' workshop. Yes, I have an agenda with that space, but only to improve the functioning of the household. The small workshop will house primarily gardening stuff; the utility room will be a better laundry room and hold our bicycling gear. This house is in a constant shifting cycle, especially with the seasons, so more organized, the easier, period.

The Inside of my Home, in a Sketch

The compost toilette seems to be working out better than expected. There is no offensive scent (but we are sure to keep the lid shut, too.) Jason has been emptying it and he says it is not so gross. He does wash the bucket out with the hose before returning it to the bathroom, as well as replenishing the other bucket with peat moss.

I cleaned under the sofa today, and made some designs to build a second sofa, that will double as storage. Also made some table/bench designs that will be used as storage also. The foremost project is the bookshelf that I will attach the the wall next to the futon sofa. I've got a lot of projects brewing and I can't wait to get going.

My objective is to utilize space and create an environment that is conducive to our lifestyle. Oh, and look good too.

We tend to read, study, research, and create in the living room. It also is our entertainment center, dining (esp. in the summer), fireplace, piano, ingoing/outgoing mail, and entrance.

Our "dining room" gets alot of traffic because it is the main exit to the back porch/backyard. It holds another bookshelf of all my cookbooks, and some gardening supplies, and a few cookwares. This is an awkward space. In the winter we move the dining table to this room to free up the fireplace area.

The main bedroom is used for sleeping, dressing, and reading.

The guest bedroom is currently my craft room, and junk room, which I need to organize and sift out.

The "sun room" is our office, exercise room, pantry, and some more junk. The utility room holds bike gear, garden stuff, some tools, laundry room, and another exit to the backyard walking by the hot tub.

The kitchen is the kitchen... another mess to organize, and in the future renovate.

The bathroom is the bathroom... a future room to renovate in my dreams.

As for outside, Jason will be finally building his shed! I can't wait! We already have the concrete slab poured (2 years old now), and it is begging for a roof and some walls. More to come on this, as this will be a momentous project! I'm hoping for him to finish this for my Christmas gift, but we will see. I know you have to plan for problems to arise when building so, I will not be surprised if he finishes in the Spring.