Clutter Confidential: 31/31 Pause and Reflection

I've come a long way in the living room.
Before the paper tsunami strikes (November I plan to consolidate and sort ALL the piles of paper from ALL the rooms), I'm taking a moment to assess my progress.
From here:

To here:

Yay me!

How did I do with the challenges that helped get me to this point?

Nailed the 31 Days Challenge -- posted every day, sketched on most. :-)
Did not do so well on the social aspects of the challenge -- to read and share other 31 Days bloggers.
Hard to keep up with the blogs I'm already reading, let alone finding new ones to read and leave comments.
Sorry fellow 31 Dayers.

Katie Roger's decluttering e-course 27 days of Feng Shui?
Most importantly, I held myself to her "5 minute" declutter" mandate. Invaluable!
As for the e-course, I got stalled on Day 5. Or maybe it was Day 3. Katie had major closet decluttering early in the course, which I didn't have the space to deal with. (As mentioned, I'll do my papers next. WAY worse than my closet.) I read the emails as they arrived every day and did some of the exercises out of order.

All in all, gamifying the declutter process helped me immensely.
I'm very happy that I'm finally dealing with the mess on a deeper level than my usual "I'll put all these papers in this box and move it into the studio" tactic.
I'll keep you informed on my progress on a (much) more irregular basis. Maybe monthly check-ins?
No more daily sketches -- too much of a onerous task!
Plus, my sketches usually appear on the sketch blog.
(Just keeping things, um, organized!)

Onward!

Find links to all the posts here.

Clutter Confidential: 30/31 Neatnik Nails the Nook

As I was taking my "clean coffee table" photos yesterday, I noticed (and cropped out) an area that I had overlooked in my tidying:

That cranny under the table.

Along with the museum of retired remotes, I found a clock.

I have no recollection of this clock, but I put it to use in the kitchen.

Jury still out on it's ability to keep time.

Nook is neater!

A wide view from the other side.

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 29/31 Table That

I was backsliding on the table:

Now the piles of papers building up are more evident.
I've now cleared room for this phase of the declutter.
Deep diving required!

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 28/31 Next

It's getting harder to find small "5 minute" messes in the living room.

The sketching is getting tiresome as well.

Done and done.

Next.

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 27/31 Mystery Grab Bag

A bag of random stuff.
I thought it had come from the van. (which died in 2007 or so).

I did a "What's In My Bag?" type layout as I unpacked it:

Oh! It's mostly stuff from the fridge gallery!
I integrated the appropriate items back into the collection.

I started a "real size" sketch of the fridge years ago. Too daunting.
This smaller one from 2010 is sweet:

Anne M Bray, Fridge, Ink/paper, 6 x 4" ©2010

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 26/31 Clutter Loves an Open Space

I was gloating too soon.

Clutter loves an open space.

These wandered over from my studio/bedroom:

A pile of fruit boxes full of papers. 

Yeah, it's bad in there.

I think most of that is going to have to go visit the living room.

As well as another archipelago of boxed papers in the office.

It's time to deal with them.

I must be strong!

The paperwork will be passing through the living room and not docking!

No sketch today.

I DID change a burned out lightbulb though.

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 25/31 Sketchy Situation

This corner was mocking me:

I organized it into submission.

Crate #1, under the tees and smiley pillow, held my pile of sketchbooks.

"THAT's where they went!"

Both fashion sketches from the past few years [see those over on SpyGirl],

and sketches done during my pop tart phase in the early 00's:

I don't know "Baby's" real name. Isn't she a doll?

I'll post more of the pop scene sketches after the 31 Days thing is done.

Don't want to interrupt the current flow.

Ha! Touché messy area!

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 24/31 Recipe for Success

This box filled with newspapers and whatnot has been parked under the table forever.

I spy another randomly placed photo album in there.

The photo album was empty. 

It got placed in the "photo corner". 

I thought the box might contain a pile of recipes. 

Yes, a few. 

Mostly, I found lots of 2013 unread newspapers (placed there during a mad cleanup, no doubt). 

Direct transport outside to the blue recycle bin.

Under that was a collection of magazines from 2009!

More trips to the blue bin.

I'll confess, not everything got sorted out of the box.
I put some items back in and moved it to the side of the living room.
I KNOW that's a bad idea.
I also know if I keep chipping away at the piles, bit by bit they'll erode.
I'm optimistic!

I know, I know -- it'd be better if that space under the table was empty.
That's my "tech" suitcase. It holds all the cables, chargers, and components that I could possibly need. No obsolete stuff.
If I move it now to where it belongs, I'll be tripping over it.
Onward.

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 23/31 Skirting the Issue

This was starting to annoy me:

A halfway completed pile of items to list to sell on Poshmark. They had been heaped there for a week.

I've sketched and journaled my way to the end of the Moleskine book that I was using.

I'm now using a spiral-bound sketchbook for the sketches, and the backsides of a realtor freebie notepad for my journaling.

I figured an easy way to tackle the "5 minutes" declutter is to list a new item on Poshmark.

(I know, I keep going on and on about Poshmark. There's something about it I really enjoy, more so than Etsy.  Maybe it's the easy prepaid postage part. I haven't tried Ebay, so I don't know how it compares.)

I got the skirt listed. Yay me!

Chip away at it little by little, and the mountain will eventually be gone.

Another room, another pile.

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 22/31 Junked Mail

As you can see, the living room table has gone rogue with clutter. Again. Must remain vigilant! 

I dealt with the pile of mail that had been breeding on the sewing table. A lot of it went to recycling.

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 21/31 Shoo, Shoes

Goodbye Sex Kitten Mules!

I happily boxed these up to ship to a new home.

Yay Poshmark!

An older sketch of them:

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 20/31 Single Filed

I kept it simple this AM and dealt with the rolling crate.

Next up in that area is a bunch of more difficult items, some are Severo's.

Back to dealing with the mess on the table perhaps?

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 19/31 Yellow Fever

My fashion blog SpyGirl caused this to happen:

Read some of the process here. 

I didn't fully explain WHY the mad hunt for yellow garments/fabrics on SpyGirl caused such chaos. It became one of those moments in decluttering when enough space was opened up in an area to then begin going deeper and it created a BIG MESS. The fabrics in the foreground came off the dining room sewing table because I was hoping the yellow/black/red plaids (left side of couch) were under them. ALL of this is sewing and/or repurposing/sewing projects. Some don't require completing any more!

At first I had a grand overview of everything yellow in my to-do boxes.

Lou was adamant about staying on the couch while things piled up.

I then began to group things, using methods learned from Katie.

Some rank as keepsakes. They are going into a special box.

Some, I'm still attracted to in terms of color and pattern.
They will return to the to-do box.

And some I culled, going into the sell/to donate area.

Happiest find of the day was my "power apron", a bedraggled paint-laden denim shirt that I use for painting. I bought it in Hong Kong in 1992. It had been missing for a couple of years.

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.

Clutter Confidential: 18/31 Cornered With Clutter

Time to get deep into this corner.

First up, finish listing the belts on Poshmark.

I will confess, this studded number got diverted back into my collection:

As I was trying to style it for Poshmark, I wrapped it around my wrist as a bracelet:

It's a keeper!
It lives with the bracelets now, joining its 80's friends the cowrie belt, the neon plastic bracelets from Burkina Faso, the vintage Bakelite, etc, etc.

"Hey! I remember this ball!"

Find links to all the posts (as they get written) here.