Sunday, December 21, 2008

Work space before and during

For years I have had this huge work desk / bookshelf combo that I have wanted to get rid of...I kept it because the guy that put it together for me had passed (r.i.p. Major Kokayi). But I finally realized, after reading and watching decluttering experts, that holding on to objects simply because of memories was not a good thing. Its funny how you can hear the same thing over and over and never apply it to your life, then one day it just clicks....this has happened to me in so many aspects of my life....you have to be at a place where you are ready to internalize the lesson....

Anyway, back to the work area. I don't have any good before pics except for the ones that I took for my hair shots....where here is one with my son in the foreground...



Okay, let me just say, the pots and pans are on the floor cause I was getting ready to give those away....the shoes are always at the door, as is the bike.... student apartment living, gotta love it!



Here you can see the top part of the work area...it was actually pretty nice looking, just not right for the small space. My tastes have changed, as have my needs, and I found that the more shelves and flat area I had, the more I felt that I had to keep. And I had nowhere to spread out my books, articles, and the like when writing papers (unless I used the dining room table). I just needed to rework that area so....



I took the credenza off of the desk part (well, I guess it was more of an armoire / cabinent). So now the desk part looks like this:




I moved the dining room table back to the dining area (not next to the t.v.) and it looks like...



Z. and I have actually been eating there! It's fun, you should try it! Oh, and the cabinet? Well, I got it as far as outside the door, but I can't get it down the stairs. And we had two winter storms, so now....




Now if I can dig my way out of my front door....

I might try to throw some more stuff in the trash/ recycling / give away bins....the ones not covered in snow, that is....
Viva na paz!












Saturday, December 20, 2008

For real though, enough is enough!

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
-Anais Nin
So the end of the semester and the year is upon me. I have renewed my effort to get things in order and I feel that I am well on my way. I have commited myself to documenting the various aspects of my journey...a way of keeping myself honest, I suppose. Now I know I said that I would start doing all of this homemade cleaning and beauty stuff, and I have actually done a few things. But I have not gone full force ahead, because of one simple thing. I live in a mess of an apartment, and I have lived in messy apartments most of my adult life. It pains me to say that, but it is true. They say admitting a problem is the first step. Well, for many years I would not admit that it was a problem...for many years I did not see it as a problem. I mean, didn't everyone tell their guests to just sit on the books covering the couch? Why wouldn't I have 10 sets of bedding for a household of two? 60 pairs of shoes for a woman who isn't even "into" shoes (I am, however, a bag lady); what is the problem with that?

I did not feel that the amount of stuff I have was too big of a problem, but now it has become stifling, stressful, overwhelming, and it impacts not just my life, but my son's life. Like most major changes I have made in my life, seeing how things impact Z. is what is pushing me into action. I want to live a simpler, more fufilling life, and that starts with letting go of the things that keep us down. Below are some "before" pics of various rooms in our apartment, and I will be adding pics as we work through our space....stay tuned! Oh, and please don't be shocked by what you see....it looks bad, like a before on Clean House, but some of this is after I started pulling things out of the closets for sorting.....for real though!!!











This is my living room area.



The "dining area" where noone but me sits and eats...while watching tv and surfing the Internet.


Another view of my living room area...has potential, right?