Week #1 Decluttering & Low Spend Challenges Done with Photos

First the Low Spend Challenge.
Week #1 I spent only on food.....$91.17 through today, Tuesday.
We had take-out once....Subway sammies on Sunday.

Because my mini vacuum broke while cleaning my room as part of the Decluttering Challenge we went out to window shop for a new one on Monday.
I thought I'd blow Low-Spend next week because of having to buy a new vacuum. 8-(

But before I had Hubs take the old one out to the trash can last night I told him to plug it in and give it a try One. More. Time.
And it WORKED!lol  A miraculous healing.  Am I the Ernest Angley of the Vacuum Cleaner World?

Oreck Pro Mini Vac.....you are HEALED!!!
Praise the gods of suck......

Or I am now the Vacuum Whisperer.....

Think like a vacuum.  Understand the signals your vacuum is sending out.  Speak the vacuum's non-verbal  language.  Use your body to show dominance over your vacuum.  Be the leader of your vacuum pack.

Whatever!
At least now I don't have to shell out major $$$s to replace my "precious" mini vac.

Onward to the Decluttering Challenge Results.
I'm reposting the BEFORE photos along with the AFTER photos.
And away we go.....


Shot 1 BEFORE

 Shot 1 AFTER

Things have been moved and the sewing projects thrown in the corner between the sewing machines have been purges and what is left has been folded and put into the blue tub of projects.  The current projects are on the back of my sewing chair.  The box under the ironing board will stay there, as it has a twofold purpose.....holding gifts/Xmas presents and it keeps whatever I am ironing/working on from dragging on the floor.

Shot 2 BEFORE

 Shot 2 AFTER

You will notice the cedar chest is CLEARED OFF...yay!  I also weeded through the sewing projects(in the blue tub)and said tub is tucked at the foot of the bed now.  The 12-packs of soda will leave as soon as #2 son comes home and can move them for me to the garage(except for the 2 I will hide in the closet).  My rocking chair aka Hubs clothes rack is HUB'S to deal with, not mine. lol  And I made my bed.....!


Shot 3 BEFORE

 Shot 3 AFTER

My dresser and nightstand are cleaned off and items put away in the correct places.  Papers and photos are filed away.  I can actually get into those little drawers on top without an avalanche of stuff falling on the floor. lol

Shot 4 BEFORE

 Shot 4 AFTER

  The boxes against the wall are sewing notions, patterns.  There is a box of dolls I have kept from my youth that are important to me.  There is a Yellow Submarine Lava Lamp.  I am still undecided on what to do with it.  On top of the white drawers is my stack of uncut fabric for projects.  I've draped a Spongebob towel over the lot to keep what is under it from getting dusty.  This way the fabric doesn't get dusty and I can shake out or wash the towel on a regular basis.

Shot 5 BEFORE

 Shot 5 AFTER

 My challenge here was not about getting rid of clothing, since I do that twice a year when I change out clothes for the seasons.  I got everything off the floor so you can walk around in there without tripping.  I also straightened the shelves and organized it a bit.  I ran out of time to take it all down and reorganize but things are with "like things" now and easier to find.


 And here is everything that left the room.....

The Holiday decorations that never got put away.

Bags of Rite-Aid pillaged booty that were hiding in my cedar chest, can now be put away with all my excess toiletries in the "toiletries dresser" in Daughter's old room.

Box full of children's keepsakes can be put into their respective boxes for each child, which are stored in closet in Daughter's old room.

Books I've read can be put away on bookshelf elsewhere in house(2 of them)or given away(1 of them).

Food and other things that need to live in the kitchen.

More foodstuffs for kitchen pantry or stockpile in garage.

 2 large plastic zippered cases(from comforter purchases).  To be repurposed to hold out of season bedding or thrown away.

 A bag of new/unused cosmetics I am not going to use to put with the toiletries stash or with Giveaway loot.

3 bags of items to take to Salvation Army or give away or sell.

 Bags of trash.  There was another full bag that Hubs put out last night for pick-up before I took these shots.

 Empty shopping bags for the bag stash in the garage for reuse.

 A box of beanie babies to sell or donate.

A stack of 2 year old magazines.  I'll skim them for recipes and then out in the garbage they go too!

The box lid and box on the bottom are sell or donate items.  The white box is old letters I need to go through and sort.  I'm hoping to get that pile condensed and filed away with my other old letters.

So I have many items leaving the house from that room.  Hubs just got home and came downstairs after changing his work clothes and remarked on how empty the bedroom is.  8-))
I still need to get in there and use the mini vac some more.

As for the small mini-challenge of a food bank donation......
I like to make large food bank donations so instead I made up a small bag of items for my BIL-who lives on the edge of "having enough" in this world.  It's some food items, paper goods and toiletries I pulled from my stockpile for him.

3 tubes of toothpaste
2 bottles of shampoo
2 packs of tp
2 boxes of spaghetti
1 big bottle of ketchup
1 packet of taco seasoning

Not much actual food because they don't eat a wide variety of foods.  None of the canned veggies or rice or dried beans or flour or stock or marinades or peanut butter or canned tomatoes or spices I have are things they will eat.  They only eat convenience foods or raw foods as they don't "cook".

So that's the Results of my Week of Challenges.

How did everyone else do?

Sluggy

"My Personal Space" Decluttering Challenge....The BEFORE

I'm taking part in Carla's February Challenges which you can find HERE.

Week 1 in the Decluttering Challenge is about cleaning up a "Personal Space".
I chose my Bedroom as that space.
Though it grieves me to do this, here are the BEFORE Photos I snapped.
It is NOT pretty, so don't view them on an empty stomach......

Here's from the right at the door.  This is my sewing area with my machines and ironing board.  Hubs dresser is on the right of the shot.  You can see a hint of all the crap on his dresser.  Next to the overlock machine is a tub of sewing projects, an air cleaner and a humidifier on the floor along with a bolt of fabric.  You can't see the large box of merchandise under the ironing board or the child's rocking chair and sewing projects piled onto it in the corner of the room, behind the sewing machine....

Here's from the right at the door looking further toward the back of the room.  My rocking chair which Hubs has filled with clothes at all times! Argh  Notice the romantic ambience of the 12 packs of soda(keeping them in here so they are out of the reach of #2 son).lol  The pile of stuff at the foot of the bed is hiding a cedar chest/bench.
And no, I didn't even make the bed!

Here's moving left over on the other side of the bed on the back wall of the room.  That's my nightstand, my dresser on the left(piled with crap).  I have a set of plastic storage bins that are all nice and organized, holding important photos and papers and stuff but piled onto and next to them are fabric lengths, plunder from Rite-Aid that never got put "away", a box of beanie babies and stacks of Christmas stuff and extra gifts that didn't get "given" this past Holiday.  Doesn't everyone's nightstand hold a rack of sewing patterns, an Alice Cooper car toy, a stack of books, extra Christmas cards, an extra wallet, a very tall lamp and nose spray?

And here's the same shot but standing back to the door....
You can see all the crap on my dresser clearly now!  A craftsman vase we bought 20 years ago at an art festival which is jammed full of plastic shopping bags(mostly from Rite-Aid), packages of unopened cosmetics and lip gloss(more Rite-Aid plunder), fabric scraps from 2 different sewing projects(1 I finished 2 years ago, 1 still undone), a bag of combs, a Pfaltzgraf serving bowl I won at a Chinese Auction about 10 years ago(it was previously in the hall linen closet and got moved when I cleaned that out the end of last year), 2 bamboo cutting boards(Hubs and I bought 2+ years ago for Xmas presents when we were in Rehobeth DE on one of our mini vacations, but we haven't figured out WHO to give them to!lol), my jewelry boxes, a Tom Clark gnome that was my brother's but it was dropped and the head came off so it needs to be repaired,  a set of Presidential Election Pins(from 1996)from the Hard Rock Cafe in Philly, 2 Fenton bowls I call "crap catchers" because anything bowl shaped around here ends up with crap tossed into it, a Brita pitcher still in the shopping bag sitting randomly on the floor, papers that need to be filed in the other room.......and on and on.

That was sort of a 360 view thing if you missed it. ;-)

And here is the closet.....

The clothes(to either side) in here are fairly organized and purged already.  The shelving unit in the center(on the back wall of the closet)needs some work.  It holds all my family's photo albums plus all the scrapbook type photo albums I inherited from my mother(I am the family records keeper it seems.). My gift stash was/is also on the shelves, as are my tubs of sewing supplies(threads, buttons, notions).  I need to rework this space....

You may have noticed I don't have things hanging on my walls and bunches of tchotchkes(knickknacks, geegaws, etc.) sitting around to decorate.
I used to but not since I developed some bad allergies which left me with sinus infections that necessitated seeing an ENT doctor for my sinus problems after #2 son was born.
He convinced me that the best way to conquer the problem was to remove allergen holding items from the bedroom, as this is the easiest room to control and the one place where you spent the most time per day/night.
So carpeting was banned(well, I do have a small rug under the rocker now so the bamboo floor doesn't get ruined), curtains also(I do have a valance now) and bedding is enclosed in allergen barrier cases.  Blinds are easier to keep allergen-free because you just have to wipe them down.  We also run a cool mist humidifier which not only helps with the dryness in Winter when the heat is on, but also knocks down any dust floating around the room so it's less likely to be inhaled. We also have an air cleaner.  I don't decorate since pictures needs to be dusted and is just more places dust can hide/cling.  We did have a set of original artwork on the walls but after we painted, they don't go with the new room color.  I may end up putting something on the walls again, but it will have to be cleaned every week. 
Or maybe I won't since I'm too lazy to keep after the dust like I'd have to. ;-)
These steps can't make your bedroom allergen-free but it sure helps. 

So having piles of clothes, fabric and general crap laying around the room is NOT good for my health!  I really need to get this room ship-shape again.
Bring on the challenge!!

I'll be back early next week with photos of the result.
Stay tuned......

Sluggy