YoCP > YoTP

Well, friends the YoCP is over (well, technically it was over when Jolie ended it early mid-way through the year, but I had kept going on it...mostly). Looking back over the year, I'm impressed with how many things I got done.

There was the shoe purge, and the wrapping paper impressiveness, and of course, the big closet. My car was cleaned (and ahem, could probably use a touch up) and the BBQ was scoured. I even threw in a bonus porch project just for kicks.

But I didn't finish everything. There are still two cards left unturned, plus a few of those silly celebration cards. I mean, yes, I had a drink and admired my work in December, but there's something that doesn't quite feel right about turning over those last few "you did it" cards until I've actually done it, ya know?

I've started assessing and paring down the kitchen and dining things (erm, last week, when I also purged the pantry). We did some of the guest room boxes. But there's still work to do. And thus, I begin thinking about what this year will hold, homemaker-wise.

There's no YoCP: Redux happening, but I still like the idea of putting my projects up on the board. It really helped me to visualize all the things I want to do and only worry about them when it was the assigned time. I like structure, and I like schedules. It's my blessing/curse.


I've been feeling overwhelmed lately - something that tends to happen towards the end of the year, with the holidays and wrapping up the year at work, somehow there never seems to be enough time. This is normal, I know. But I'm also prone to overcommitment and a need to fill every moment...and we just have a lot of stuff. No more. Time for change, New Year!

2015 is the Year of The Purge. It's time to make more room in my life. Less stuff, less commitments, less crazy. More space, more time, more sane.

I'll be making a fresh board for the year, perhaps even this weekend, but all of my projects are going to focus on getting rid of things, making more space. Not to fill with new things, but just to breathe a little easier, to see clearer. To practice letting things go. The practice of letting go of physical objects will (hopefully) seep into my psyche, making it easier to say no to plans in favor of a quiet night at home, or to feel less guilty saying no to pet projects. A girl can hope.

Did you tackle any big projects last year? What's on your list for this year? Have any resolutions/goals/intentions/plans?

YoCP: Frame and Hang Art

Technically, this was a July YoCP project. Technically, I'm still working my way through some of August, September, and October. Technically, it is actually November. But technically, as of July, YoCP is on hiatus (according to an email from our fearless leader, Jolie Kerr), so I don't feel quite so badly about being behind.

But YoCP was a promise I made to myself, if not a commitment to the greater Clean Person Community. And I created these projects with a purpose, and I do plan on completing them. Even if it takes me all year. Which it might, because there are only 6 weeks left in the year. Holy shit, did I just say that? Is that true? Jesus.

Ok. Back on track, here. One of my projects was "Frame Art. Hang Art." We have quite a bit of artwork, both personal mementos and arty posters, and since we're likely not moving any time soon, I figured we might as well take them from "big pile in the guest room" to "things that actually hang on the walls". Turns out, it wasn't as simple as I thought it would be. Many of the pieces were oddly-sized, requiring custom mats and very specific frames. Framing delays meant it took longer to assess the stash, and busy schedules meant delays in actual hanging. But as of a few weeks ago, all of our art is framed and hung (ok, there's one poster that I framed that's due to be hung in the guest room, but I haven't quite figured out where I want it to go, so it's leaning up against the wall, but I'm just not going to count that one, ok?).

In the bedroom, I finally have the art wall I'd been envisioning pretty much since we moved in. There's a little room for more artwork if we have it, but overall, I really like it. It's a collection of pictures from trips we've taken, or of special or meaningful things to us (like the "Going to the mountains is going home" John Muir quote print I found totally randomly, and then just happened to find the perfect frame for when I wasn't looking). It's really lovely to wake up and go to bed looking at things that make us happy.

Have you completed any projects lately? Are you still YoCP'ing? What's the most complicated framing job you've ever done?

Front of House

Although it wasn't on my YoCP list, I've been meaning to tackle the front porch for a while. Over the last few years, it had gathered dust, grime, and assorted detritus, and with festive gourd season upon us, I figured now was as good a time as any to clean. Holiday decorating is one of my favorite for cleaning, after all. I meant to post this before Halloween, so just travel back in time with me a bit, when porches needed to be cleaned off to support jack-o-lanterns and ghosts.

 You see, the railing of our porch was once white. It was relatively white when we moved in three years ago. But the grime had gotten a little out of control.

I'm a bit embarrassed to share this picture, but I think it's important to share just how bad it was. Not only so you can see the progress (I promise, it gets better!), but hopefully to ease any shame you have at the state of your front porches.

It's ok.

We are none of us perfect.

We clean.

We move on.

It may be worth noting that the splotchiness is a result of several lanterns that usually reside on this railing - the grime gathered under them a bit, but mostly around them. Not sure about the clean white patch in the middle. It's a mystery.



I started this cleaning project with one goal: get rid of that black grime so that it looks pretty. I figured I'd tackle it with a little Dr. Bronner's and water, and all would be well. NOT SO, MY FRIENDS. NOT SO.

I scrubbed with Dr. Bronner's and a scrub brush, and a sponge, and all my (limited) upper body strength, to no avail. I busted out the 409. And the Comet. I scrubbed and I rinsed for about two hours.

Still, I was left with something that looked like this. Not a huge improvement - irritating, even, given the amount of time and effort I'd put into this should've-been-easy project.

And then I bought some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. The heavy-duty kind, made for outdoor furniture.



They were not as strong as the advertisements made them out to be, or maybe my grime was just that bad. I worked my way through about seven erasers, which split and tore and turned irreversibly black as I convinced myself that this. would. work. Because it had to. I'd sunk too much time into this already, and dammit, I wanted to decorate for Halloween!

However, after about an hour of scrubbing and cursing, I was left with something that almost resembled cleanliness. It's more gray than white, really, and there are slivers of black grime that I just couldn't get out, embedded into the grooves of the wood. But overall, it's progress. And it was enough to make me consider the project a success.

I mean, look at those before-and-afters, eh? I later learned (upon bleaching a spot where a potentially-rabid-maybe squirrel had destroyed one of our pumpkins) that (oh yeah, duh) bleach is a *really* easy way to whiten things. Probably could've saved a lot of time by starting with bleach. Ah well.

I felt good enough to put the lanterns back out, and add some gourds (and a flying ghost) to the mix.

I later removed those hanging lanterns (which have been so destroyed by wind and rain that they were just a ragged mess), replacing them with a small metal hanging lantern (thanks, IKEA). I took the extra metal table and moved it to the yard, next to the BBQ, for extra "counter" space.

It's still a little dirty out there - it could use a good scrub, and would probably benefit from regular sweeping, but at the end of the day, it's a porch. A porch on a house we rent.

We do our best to keep it in good shape, but it will never be magazine-perfect, because we do not live in a magazine.

It's ok. We are none of us perfect.
We clean. We move on.

The Purge

No, not the probably-terrifying movie that's in theatres right now. I'm talking about one of July's #YoCP projects: The Shoe Purge. Our shoe situation was pretty out of hand -- my shoes were taking over Will's part of the closet, which meant his spilled out onto the floor. Plus, mine were such a mess that I could never get them to fit on the racks, so I just...didn't. Feast your eyes on this little before and after:

Major thanks to Sonja for being my partner in purge, helping me get rid of 4 grocery bags of shoes (and random clothes) and not judging me for the amount of dust that was under the pile. It feels good to actually be able to see every pair of shoes, and know that I'm not holding on to extraneous crap.

How are your July YoCP projects going? Did you launder/clean your shoes? (I didn't, but they didn't really need it) Do you have any other projects going on? My next project is framing and hanging the art we have collected in piles and rolls in the guest room. And I still have to take care of the last June project: polishing the headlights on the car (I did actually do all the other car-cleaning projects. The glovebox has never looked better).

Congratulations on making it through half the year!

It's a Wrap!

For years, I've sought an ideal wrapping paper storage solution (see here and here, also here). And during Big Closet Month, I finally got my act together to create the gift wrap station of my dreams. Ever since moving to our new place (erm, 2.5 years ago), I knew what I wanted to create. After spying this setup on Pinterest and reading all about the Elfa over the door system, I knew that the back of our Big Closet door would be perfect. It's a huge closet with room for the system once the door's shut, and it's right next to the dining room table, which is where I do most of my wrapping. I was having a hard time justifying the purchase (the Elfa system runs about $100), but thanks to some freelancing work from Extra Space Storage, I splurged guilt-free.

After a terrible Stanley Cup Playoff game for the Penguins (at least I was among friends at Giordano Brothers in San Francisco), I engaged in some retail therapy. My friend Adele, a fellow Container Store lover, and I hit the Co-Sto, and about $100 later, I had all the ingredients for a glorious wrapping paper project.

Nice display, Co-Sto. I'm not using this for
pantry storage though (maybe someday...)

Adele is my Container Store soulmate.
Look at this adorable deviled egg travel
container! I mean, come on!

Go home, Container Store. You're drunk.

There were, of course, a few hiccups. Namely, that the standard wall rack/pole thing comes in a standard door size. And all of the doors in our house are the standard size...except the door on the Big Closet, which is for some reason, about 3/4" shy of standard. I walked around the house, trying to see if there was another door I could use, but no. I was determined to use this door, dammit. So back I went a week later, for a free pole-trimming. Protip, guys: the store in San Francisco has a parking lot underground with a free Container Store drop-off and pick-up zone. Pull in, drop off your shit. Come back later, pick it up. They even come to you, so you don't have to leave your car. And the trimming service is free. Such service.

Anyway, with my resized pole, I was ready for action. Except I couldn't figure out how to get the damn thing installed. The instructions were helpful, but it was a little tricky to install by myself. With two people, one to hold and one to tighten the screw, it would have taken much less time. But hey, I'm a badass. I can do things by myself. Other protip: Don't freak out when it looks like despite cutting the pole to the correct size, it's still not going to fit because the over-the-door hooks could not possibly align with the slots correctly. What happens is that as you tighten the screw, the whole thing kind of cinches up, squeezing itself into place on the door. It's like magic. And don't worry about not being able to close the door, because as it squeezes, it tightens enough that the door will close perfectly and you will wonder why you spent so much time fretting about your door that could not possibly close. Because it closes just fine. Better than fine, actually. And now...

Boom.

This is what it looks like inside the closet. This picture was hard to take. It's hard to take a picture of this door, because from the outside the lighting is kind of crap. And from the inside, the lighting is slightly better but it's pretty crowded. So anyway, this is the best picture I could get. But you can see how awesome the gift wrap storage situation is. It's so lovely. Commence jealousy.

Anyone else have long-awaited projects they've recently completed?

YoCP: The Big Closet

It's May, and Jolie and the Dust Bunnies are on to purging winter clothes. My #YoCP May focus was on The Big Closet. See, we have this closet. It's big. Like, approximately 42 square feet. I don't mean to brag, but dang, it's a closet. And it has so much potential. But it had gotten a little bit out of control. There was too much being stored, and stored inefficiently, making it hard to find anything - including floorspace to walk on. But friends, oh friends. I have prevailed. I spent about 15 hours over the course of the weekend taking everything out and putting it all back in again. And getting rid of a giant black trash bag full of clothing and whatnot. And now...photos.

I think we have a coat-hoarding problem.

And enough hats to outfit a baseball team.

And enough jerseys to run a hockey league.

There was a lot of stuff in that closet, man.

The hockey gear corner (before). Holy mess. 

The hockey gear corner (after). Neat & Tidy.
I'm particularly impressed with my hockey
stick holder - a repurposed toilet paper holder.

Better view of the hockey stick holder, plus
the ironing situation and giant post-it boards.

The other wall - organized sporting gear,
scarf holder, and clutches. Also contains
the "future gifts" box (and our ski gear
duffel sits on top of it, not pictured).

View of the wall behind the coat rack - we
have a lot of bags. They hang on the wall.
Camping gear and my childhood dollhouse
now fit snugly in the corner under the stairs.
The plastic cart on the left is hardware/tools
and the right is all hats. Yep. Hats.

The closest I could get to a shot of the whole
closet. Sleeping bags and hiking backpacks
hang from a hook on the left there.
Out of the shot on the left side is the stuff
pictured above (hockey, camping, etc).

So yeah. This was A Project. And it's pretty much done. Last step is the wrapping paper...but that'll get its own blog post because because. I'm impressed with myself, and I really enjoyed taking a whole weekend to tackle something in the house. I needed to fix the scarf holder (one of the Command hooks holding it up just plain fell off the wall -- the hook was strong enough but the years-old paint wasn't!) and what would have seemed like an insurmountable task was super speedy. Because the hammer and nails were so easy to get to, the repair only took about 2 minutes. 

You may my excitement over such little things (Will certainly does), but having things organized and easily accessible makes me feel good. It's more efficient, and it looks nicer too. A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Have you tackled any home projects lately? Anything in your house that's just driving you nuts?

YoCP April: bathroom and BBQ

It's the end of May, so what better time to write my April #YoCP post? I don't have any photos, so this will be a quickie.

April was "bathroom and BBQ" month - technically, it was "Create Your Dream Bathroom" month, but I knew we'd have to get the BBQ ready for summer so I threw it in the mix as well. So what was on the agenda to create my dream bathroom?

• fix loose tiles on the bathroom floor (a task I'd set out to do nearly two years ago)
• clean/purge the linen closet (time for that annual "what's expired? how many of these towels do we really need?" cleaning and re-organizing)

I fixed those loose tiles - turns out it's way easy! All it took was a little 2-in-1 grout/adhesive, and about 48 hours (about 10 minutes of hands-on) and the loose tiles that have been bugging me for years were fixed. The color's a little off in that section of the floor, since it's brand new, but after just a few weeks it's dirtying up to match the rest of the floor nicely :)  And sure, I could scrub and bleach the rest of the floor, but honestly the tile in the bathroom is so old I don't think I would make a dent on the 50+ year old grout, and well, we don't own it. So. Eh.

I haven't done the linen closet yet, but my mom's coming to visit in a few weeks, and she was bummed to have missed the big closet (where do you think I get my organization obsession?) so we'll knock that one out when she's here. And now of course I've noticed that the grout in the shower could use a good scrubbing, so that's gotta get done too, despite not being on the original list (oh god, no! self-imposed restrictions!). My dream bathroom certainly doesn't come with moldy grout.

The BBQ ended up taking several hours to clean - the morning of my birthday, we opened it up for the first time since last summer, and it was...well...a bit moldy. We took the whole thing apart and washed all the pieces, which was a much more involved process than I'd anticipated. This year, I think we'll be better about cleaning as we go. Somehow, we damaged the ignition button (it still lights with a match), but we grilled up a storm for my birthday.

So. That was April. Onward to May! Ahem.

Housewife Weekend

If you've been following along, I'm participating in Jolie Kerr's Year of the Clean Person (more on that here). I've been keeping up with my projects, but lately, I've been so busy that I haven't had time (or more accurately, the desire) to sit down and blog about them. Or anything else for that matter.

But no matter.

I had set this past weekend aside for The Big Closet, a project I was really looking forward to accomplishing. We have this giant (no really, it's about 42 sq feet) closet that's mostly used for the storage of gear and winter coats. Over time, it becomes disorganized and cluttered, and as a coworker recently pointed out, "it has a lot of potential." While it has not yet reached its full potential, this weekend's work was a great start.I made room for no plans if they did not contribute to Mission: Big Closet, and it was honestly so lovely that I don't know why I don't do this more often. (oh right: because I am also a social person and desire the company of humans) I wondered what my life would be like if I didn't work; if my only job was to take care of our home and myself and my family.

Putting my feet up on a mid-closet break

I sometimes struggle to balance the desire to be a Strong Professional Woman with my love of homemaking...can I be both housewife and breadwinner (I mean, I wrote about this 5 years ago, so this is nothing new)? I don't know that it's possible within the laws of physics, but I certainly try. I want to stay home all day and keep house, bake bread, do laundry at my leisure. I want to take midday walks down to the butcher and read a good book in the sun. I want to take that 10am weekday "ABC: Abs, Back, Core" workout class. I want to drop my kids off at school and be home in the afternoons when they're done so I can take them to their various lessons or help them with their homework. But I also want to develop my career, have difficult and engaging conversations with other adults, and do my part to make my company and the industry a better place. I want my hypothetical kids to see that their mom is a strong, driven career woman and know that they can aspire to be anything. I want my world to be more than my home.

It's hard to do it all. And because most of the time, my balance skews in favor of work, sometimes it's nice to reject the laptop and focus on the nesting, however forced it may feel at first.

This weekend (in no particular order) I:

• did three loads of laundry
• repurposed miscellaneous leftovers into a whole new (delicious!) meal
• made banana peanut butter chocolate chip "ice cream"
• organized the camping gear
• overhauled the hockey gear storage
• found new storage for our outdoor toys (jai alai, frisbees, wiffle ball, etc)
• moved the gift storage out of the bedroom (after several months)
• collected a big black trash bag full of clothes to give away
• watched Bye Bye Birdie and Gidget (I have a soft spot for adorable mid-century movies)
• organized the hardware cabinet
• reworked the sprinklers in the vegetable garden
• moved my childhood dollhouse into the Big Closet (it's in a big box that had been moving around the house because of lack of room in the closet)
• put away a bunch of dishes
• prepped a pillow for testing (review coming soon on the blog)
• took a trip to IKEA for supplies and ogling the IKEA things

And that doesn't even take into account the magazine-sorting, table-clearing, trash-taking-out, and dishwashing that Will contributed to the weekend. The house is looking so much better, and I'm feeling a greater peace of mind. I think I might just do it again this weekend.

Separate post on the YoCP stuff to come (because, hello, I owe y'all a post about April still and I took a LOT of pictures of the closet this weekend). 

March #YoCP

The Year of the Clean Person marches on. Speaking of marching...March's tasks were to fix the broken lamp by my bedside, to hang the mirror on the wall, and to clean the top of my dresser (I already make my side of the bed every day, and March is #YoCP #LAMOB month). Well, technically, I wanted to clean the tops of both of our dressers, but c'est la vie. And mine was the worst, so it needed immediate attention, and what was top of mind when making the list.

Before: it was pretty awful.
Earrings strewn about, papers needing to be filed,  and
piles upon piles upon piles.

After: so much clean!
Neat and organized, earrings hung on their stand,
small piles that are organized.

I found old checkbooks, half-empty water bottles, pay stubs from last year, and earrings I hadn't seen in months. It's so clean now that I can even lay clothes out the night before (ha - right, like I remember to do that) if I want. 

Will's dresser is still kind of pile-y, but it's better. And honestly, it's his area to control. And I fixed the lamp (hot glue gun ftw) and hung the mirror. So I shall consider March to be completed. 

How was your March? Who's ready for April (aka bathroom and BBQ month)?

 

YoCP February: Bookshelves Reclaimed!

And so we continue. The Year of the Clean Person marches on. It's February! And last month, you got a preview of what was to come. It was not pretty. There were almost tears. But I'm happy to report that February has come and gone in productive style, and I have a super series of photos to share.

First, let's check in with the before, courtesy of that preview post:

Note the poorly white-balanced photos due to an
abundance of natural light. Daytime photography!

And ok, I'll just show you the TL;DR...the after:

Note the poorly white-balanced photos due to a
lack of natural light. Nighttime photography!

Notice a difference? I do. I'm not 150% satisfied yet; I think there are a few tiny tweaks I'll want to do (like that horizontal gray book - The New Yorker Book of War Pieces, of course - that's unevenly balanced, for example), but that's being majorly nit-picky and I'm pretty satisfied.

For those who care about the ins and outs of this whole Bookshelf Reclamation 2014 Situation, I'll now explain the process in a lengthy photo essay. Feel free to jump down to the comments if you're not interested in the nitty gritty. Or watching the light change in our apartment, as this project took all day long.

Superb Owl

We hosted a last-minute Super Bowl party, and you guys, I think I've figured this thing out. Turns out, if you have a party where all the guests are going to be sitting in one room watching something on the TV that you don't care about, you can spend the party cleaning, and then only have like 1.5 hours of cleaning to do when the party's over!

Ok, I realize that I sound pretty lame, and I'm probably angering feminists everywhere by admitting I spent the party in the kitchen. But honestly, I had so much fun hanging out in the kitchen and guest room, chatting with girlfriends and doing dishes. Tidying the living room and clearing trash as it accumulated, instead of waiting until the party was over, and bringing out more food when we ran low. And sure, I watched the game here and there. I caught the halftime show. I socialized. I held a baby. And then, by 8:45pm, I was on the couch with my feet up, catching up on Saturday Night Live all alone in my quiet apartment.

Yes, again, I realize that I sound really. super. cool. like. someone. you. totally. want. to. party. with.

But hey, I do throw a mean party. The food was killer, folks had a good time, and I even tried a new recipe for Sriracha hot wings (pictured, top row and left) that is a definite keeper. Will smoked ribs, and even though they took nearly 6 hours, they were worth it. Gorgeous, delicious baby back ribs.

I really need to take better photos.

Folks filed out at the end of the game around 6:45, Will left for his hockey game about half an hour later, and by 8:45, I was relaxing in the quiet, with furniture all put back in place, and dishes done. Usually, it takes us a few days to recover from a party, so this was hands-down the fastest post-party turnaround ever. I love throwing parties, and I consider myself a damn good host, but there's something peaceful about having the house back in order before you go back to work on Monday. 

Someone (besides my mom, who I know feels the same way) please validate these feelings and make me feel like I'm not the only one who would be so thrilled about this. 

YoCP: Bye Bye, January, Hello Love

My Year of the Clean Person is off to a great start. Not only did I make my January list and blog about it, I worked in a couple of bonus projects, and I calendared the SHIT out of my year! Check it out, guys. 

I know, I'm a little insane. But it's so pretty! It's so easy to see what's planned for when...and I'm hoping it'll be easy for us to pick things to do each month. Just grab a card and get to work!

And bonus: once you're done, you get to flip the card over to reveal a congratulatory note. Some of them are even themed to the project (ie: "clean out fridge > tasty!" or "hang bedroom mirror > lookin' good!"), because like I said, I am a crazy person. 

Onward to February...and here's a sneak peek of the "before" pictures. February's a busy month, and we've definitely got our work cut out for us.

You can see the "bins by the couch" on the left there, and
just the piles and piles of books that can't fit on the shelves.
Oh boy.

Bonus Projects

I just posted my YoCP January Project...a massive list, calendaring all of my home-related projects for the year. Oof. It's gonna be an exciting year!

I kicked things off today with a few teensy tiny projects, just to feel like I'd done a little something visible in the house. I was inspired by Jolie posting her list and the bonus projects she's already done. So yeah - two little things done!

First up, hanging a mirror on the door of the
guest room closet. I've had the mirror for years
(it used to be the only full-length mirror in the
house), but never figured out where to put it.
A couple of velcro Command strips later,
BOOM. MIRROR. 

I also hung this cute little clock that my
mother-in-law got me for Christmas.
It's plastic, and made for a kitchen, but I
thought it worked better in the bathroom.
I even already had a nail in the right place
on the wall (it looks higher than it is in this
picture). Super easy, and we didn't have a
clock in the bathroom before!
Also, hanging the clock meant cleaning off
the top of the craft cabinet, since it was in a
pile on top of the cabinet :)
Bonus Goal!

So, those are the two bonus achievements of the weekend. I need to grab myself some colored index cards so I can make my fancy hang-it-on-the-wall calendar...kind of like a cleaning advent calendar for the whole year, really. 

Have a great week, clean friends.

YOCP January List

So a few weeks ago I mentioned that I'm participating in the Year of the Clean Person. Well, the year has begun, and here we go! I'll be documenting progress here, with the hashtag #YoCP. Follow along, and let me know if you're doing it too.

January: Make Your List! 
I've been thinking about this since I read it, and I've started keeping a list on my phone. It looks like this.

Yes, I'm using the "notes"
app that comes on the iPhone

The trouble with using the iPhone notetaking thing is that it's not very easy to organize. And it's not easy to share. And it's not easy or satisfying to check things off when you're done. Ok, that's three troubles. But it's easy to use when I think of things as I fall asleep, which is usually when I think of things. I could use some sort of project management tool, sure, but I think I'd rather just make my list and keep track here. More fun for you! I also have a cork board that I use for house projects that I'll update so Will and I can keep track together. Another post on that (before the end of the month!) when it's done.

But first, I'm dividing my list into Evening Projects and Weekend Projects, to better keep track of what can be accomplished when.

Next, I'm assigning projects to months, sticking to Jolie's YoCP Calendar wherever possible.

February: Reclaim Your Bookshelf and Bins by Couch
Yes, please. Definitely on the February agenda! I assume this is a one-weekend project, so I'm going to add organizing/purging the bins by the couch as well, since that's something I can do in the evenings.

March: Let's All Make Our Beds Misc. Bedroom Cleaning
Thanks to #LAMOB last year, I'm pretty good at making my bed every day. Or at least, my half of the bed (Will is usually still asleep when I leave). So instead of LAMOB, I'm subbing in Misc. Bedroom Cleaning. This includes cleaning/organizing the tops of our dressers, fixing the lamp by the side of my bed, and hanging the full-length mirror (which I'd really like to do before March, but hey we'll see).

April: Create Your Dream Bathroom and Clean the BBQ
This will include fixing the tiles on the floor (something I volunteered to do; our landlord reimbursed us for the supplies, and I've still never done it) and cleaning/purging/organizing the medicine cabinet and linen closet/drawers. Maybe even getting new bathmats or something as a reward. I'm also going to add Clean the BBQ to the April list, because it needs to get done in time for Spring and Sumer BBQs (if it hasn't happened already by April, that is).

May: Winter Clothes Purge and The Big Closet
My version of the Winter Clothes Purge is mainly going to include purging old ski gear and coats, which are all in The Big Closet anyway. I'm saving The Big Closet for May, because it's usually a slower month for us as far as social activity goes, in between ski season and camping season. Plus, Spring Cleaning and all that. Depending on how April goes, I might try to get a head start on this one. And since June is just Car Wash month, I'm giving myself the leeway to spill over into June if necessary. The Big Closet is a bit intimidating.

June: Car Wash
Yeah, I could probably stand to give my car a sweet car wash, re-clean the headlights, check on the emergency supplies, clean out the glove box, clean out the door storage things, etc. 

July: Shoe Purge and Frame/hang artwork
Time to purge the shoes, mine and Will's, but mostly mine. I'd really like to get to this before July, but hey, if it happens it happens. If not, July it is. I'm also adding framing/hanging artwork to the list, because we have a lot of artwork we need to hang up. First it needs to be framed. Would be cool to get to this before August, but it's not likely to happen, so I'm scheduling it in. And I don't have 

August: Clean Out Your Desk and Guest Room Boxes
The small desk space we have could use a clean (namely the secretary desk that stores stationary), and I'm going to use this month to also deal with the boxes of wires, papers, and other miscellany that are hanging out in the guest room.

September: Summer Clothes Purge and Entryway/hooks
Yup. Purge those summer clothes, yo. I'm also going to add hang hooks and organize the entryway in time for winter coats to come back into regular use.

October: Kitchen Organization
I'm tentatively leaving this one on here, and including the hutch/dining room area, though right now I don't have a real plan. Hopefully getting rid of things, reorganizing the party supplies, maybe paring down some little-used items.

November: Clean Out Your Fridge & Pantry
This will probably be a good idea by November. Probably a good idea already, but hey, I'll wait until the pre-holiday season.

December: The Holidays Are Busy Enough, Take a Break And Admire The Work You Did This Year!
You got it, Jolie!


Oof. I think that's everything. Here we go. Anyone with me?

A Few Days In

I'm trying to start this year off on the right foot after my annual goal-setting post, which means jumping right on top of some of the aforementioned goals...no time like the present to pretend my preference isn't for procrastination! 2014 is a year of ACTION, baby!

Yesterday, Will and I (finally) got glasses (no really, we've been talking about it for 10+ months...talk about procrastination), and walked the ~2 miles to/from the optometry center instead of driving. This is the type of "building more activity into my life" I'm talking about. Choosing places to go that are walkable, rather than places where we need the car. Opting not to drive, because we live in a place where there's lots to walk to. Not only does it feel awesome to take advantage of all that's hyperlocal, it's easy built-in exercise as well.

The eating-less-gluten thing is going well: I'm pretty much thinking of it as "no carbs/sugar except two meals a week". My cause doesn't really need to be gluten-specific, and it's much easier to avoid carbs in general than only glutenous ones. It's going alright so far, though it does make things like chocolate cravings and eating out challenging...but knowing there are cheat days built in makes it more tolerable. 

And I played the piano for about 20 minutes last night, too. I've been having lots of fun with my Sara B songbooks (thanks, sis), though it might be time to get the piano tuned pretty soon...

On the cleaning front, the house feels almost overwhelmingly full right now -- while we've mostly unpacked from our holiday travels, we seem to have an unending supply of...things. Bags of unopened mail, magazines to sort through, and of course, a few tubs of holiday decorations to take down and pack away! I'm motivated, I'm ready, and I'll be participating in Jolie Kerr's Year of the Clean Person (#YoCP), which I find much more realistically approachable than Apartment Therapy's exhaustive but intimidating January Cure.

I'm especially excited about February...our bookcases are a hot mess. I'll be sure to take before and after shots, don't you worry. But for now, it's January. January is "Make Your List" month. So it's time to start making a list. Per Jolie's suggestion, I'm going to go around the house making a list of things I'd like to do, and then post it here. Because making it public puts the pressure on.

Stay tuned.