March 5, 2019

Well, we missed our goal of listing our home on the market by March 1 this year. But who knew it was going to rain so much this year! We didn’t, so that has slowed things down a bit. But here’s what I have accomplished toward that goal.

I have gone through just about every drawer, cupboard, closet nook and cranny to cull everything that does not bring me joy. My husband is still working on his garage, and has a ways to go yet.

Secondly, I refreshed the paint on just about every surface in the house including ceilings. I repainted the kitchen cabinets. That wasn’t really difficult, but it took a lot of time. I put an old plastic tablecloth over my dining room table so I could lay out the doors on it while I painted them. I also put a table in the living room and did the same. But what a difference some paint made! Here are the before and after photos.

We also replaced the old cupboard hinges and added new door knobs and drawer pulls. I painted the walls and ceiling of the kitchen. We replaced the old sticky, greasy stove hood with a new fresh, clean shiny hood to match the stove.

I painted the bathroom cupboards and added new hardware there also. I painted the living room, dining room and family room walls and ceilings also. I’m not quite finished with the family room walls because we have some very large book cases that have to be moved first.

You might say, I went a little crazy with the painting. But if you’re selling a home, fresh paint goes a long ways to make it look new and updated. My other advice is to keep the paint to neutral colors. If you like color, put it in your accessories, not on the walls.

March 13, 2018

Last week I spent several days conquering the mountains of papers in my lateral file drawers. I have 2 large file drawers that I haven’t cleaned out since I got them many years ago. Most files were old enough and outdated enough that I was able to throw away most of the contents. Others were full of outdated material that I combed through with a vengeance.

I made new folders and labeled them for things I plan to keep. I’m sorry I didn’t take a “before” and “after” photo, but the difference is amazing. The bottom drawer that was tightly packed is now only 1/3 full.

The top drawer is full of current papers so I’m still working on it. But so far, I’ve culled out enough that it has more space than it has seen in years!

I thought I had to keep papers for 7 years, and 7 years is suggested if you have a business (which I do). But for most returns, it is only 3 years. In some less common instances it is 7 years.  Medical papers should be kept for a year. But some recommendations say 5 years from the time of your medical condition. Just a suggestion, if you’ve had surgery or some medical procedure, it’s a good idea to keep a file (online) of when it took place so when your doctor asks you when you had your last colonoscopy (gasp), you can accurately tell her. (You don’t want to go through one of those more than you have to!)

I also cleaned out some items on my book shelves. I found some more sentimental items like my award certificates from Avon. They scanned very nicely and it felt great to clear out the space on my very cluttered book shelves. Other items were outdated business cards, business stamps and envelopes from an old business.

I love the new “clean” uncluttered look. But I’m not done yet. I have another 4-drawer file cabinet in the garage that I haven’t opened in a loooong time.

Getting the time do clean out your stuffed file drawers may seem huge and daunting. Again, the secret is to attack it when you have a few minutes of time. If you’re worried about what to do with papers with sensitive or personal information, you can pay a shredding company to have them disposed of, or do what we did–use them for fire starter material. Smile.

March 4, 2018

Well, as I said in last week’s blog, this Avon lady is hitting the road in the near future. This last week I spent time letting go of a drawer full of sentimental cards and letters. How can I let go of the little cards and valentines and cute little notes and hand-drawn pictures my kids gave to me when they were little? Or how can I get rid of the beautiful card my mother wrote to me to tell me what a precious daughter I was to her–my mother who is now gone to heaven?

Well, I found a way. I’ve been scanning them into the computer. Yes, it takes time. But it can be done by devoting a few minutes a day to the task. I got it done in one week.

I made a folder called “cards” and made sub-categories of the people the cards were from like “kids”, “mom”, “dad” and so forth. It was fun re-reading all the wonderful things said to me on those special occasions. If you want a real boost to your self-esteem, try it!–but keep the tissues handy.

I kept a few cards that were really special that wouldn’t have scanned well. Was it hard to finally toss the others into the trash? Yes. But I know that in the long run, that’s where they will likely end up anyway. I’ve had fun remembering all the good times I received such beautiful cards and wishes from those I love most. Now they are stored much more permanently and I can retrieve them any time I want.

In the next week, I’ll tackle the paper “mountains”.

February 23, 2018

Well…not yet. We’re hitting the road in the near future. We plan to be full-time RVers in about a year from now.  I thought I would document our “journey” to get on our RV journey.

Probably the first thing about hitting the road is downsizing 42 years of married life into a 23 foot trailer and a 10 x 10 foot storage unit. The task of downsizing seems daunting when I stop to think about it. But the key to any big task is doing a little bit every day to reach the goal. So I’m determined to get started toward the amazing goal of RVing full time!

This week I’ve been going through kitchen cupboards. I started with the very top cupboards. You know, those top cupboards you really can’t even reach.  I found vases, nick-knacks and mugs we’ve collected over the years, especially cups with gold trim that you can’t use in the microwave. (I didn’t like washing them by hand, so I hid them.) My husband couldn’t part with two of his mugs with gold trim, and since it’s not really worth trying to convince him that he will probably never use them again, I put them back on the shelf. (He’s always re-heating his tea in the microwave so I know it’s very unlikely he will start using them).

If we were moving to another house, I would have probably just packed everything up again and moved it all. After all, we’ve moved 13 times in our married life–I’m pretty good at packing! But this is a different time in our lives. We are in our sixties, and “things” just don’t mean as much to me as they used to anymore. If we ever do settle down in a house again, it will be smaller. Time to clean out the “stuff”.

Yesterday, I cleaned out the middle cupboards. These are filled with things we use everyday. What I found was some seldom used cups and saucers, a sugar and creamer, several small pitchers (from my small pitcher collection) and some other items that needed to go. In the meantime, I have more space for the things we use most often!

Today I cleaned out the bottom cupboards. We have five kids and 7 grandkids, but who needs 6 glass 9×13 casserole dishes? I kept 2. We don’t plan to entertain in the RV, but someday if we settle down again, a couple of glass casserole dishes will suffice.

Other things I found in the deep recesses of the bottom cupboards were a bread slicer form, (remember bread makers?) a HUGE plastic turkey platter (where did that come from?), a pineapple-shaped wooden platter (from Hawaii that I gave to my mom who didn’t know what to do with it either), and a couple of pitchers that I never use. Plus two stacks of plastic lids for McDonald cups. Seriously. My husband likes to put his iced tea in re-used plastic cups. The lids don’t last long, so he “collects” them. Lots of them. WAY more than he will ever use.

The “Plan” is to have a yard sale soon. But since it’s still February, I think the yard sale will have to wait a few more weeks. Even in California, it’s cold in February. In fact, it snowed last night!

I realized recently that my family liked it when I “collected” things so they knew what to give me for birthdays and Christmas. In my lifetime I’ve collected ceramic animals, miniature tea sets, tea pots, vases and plates. They kept giving me things for my “collections” long after I ran out of room to keep them. Collecting is fun–but when you have to take care of the collections, dust the collections,  and find ways to display them, the fun seems to go out of it. And 42 years later….well, now I have to deal with it all.

The psychology of “letting go” of “stuff” became clear to me the first time I read “Clutter’s Last Stand” by Don Aslett years ago. How much of your life do you spend dusting, washing, cleaning, storing all those things that amount to clutter? How much do you spend on products to dust, wash, clean and store all those things that amount to clutter? How much joy do those things add to your life? Jesus said, ““Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

So true. Life does NOT consist of possessions. There’s so much more to life.