Major Decluttering

Our small apartment is not conducive to amenable traffic patterns. The three of us often get in each other's way just trying to take care of daily business like showers or food preparation. There are times that stuff accumulates which collectively becomes an overwhelming roadblock to productivity (and sometimes even just walking!). Today I decided to address this situation from both sides of the coin.

First, I separated the two boys. Drew stays in the bedroom, and Kiel takes over what once was a living room. Kiel has slowly been collecting household stuff to set up his own place once he gets married, and Drew and I are drowning in second household klediments. So we asked Kiel to put all his stuff in his new area. Drew and I each took some of the living room stuff into our bedrooms, leaving Kiel what he needed.

What a difference that made all on its own. While I am sad to lose a common living area, the change makes everything work better. Less clutter, more organization, better functionality and a LOT less fighting. The kitchen can breathe again. I can find my dishes and pans, and I stopped tripping over shoes and bags and whatnot.

Of course, the corollary is that to make room in my space for the additional stuff, I had to declutter my own collections. It was pretty easy to scroll through the closet and let go of things like a stack of great baskets that I never use and thought would make nice gift containers. Odds and ends of hats left over from my chemo bash days. Clothing that I never wear. Instruments I never play like a hand held harp with a broken string. You know, all those unused space hogs.

Once I was down to the basic "I actually need this" stuff, I realized that a few good storage containers would be beneficial, so I trotted off to Bed Bath and Beyond, coupon in hand, to select appropriately sized plastic ware. Ugh - the very word makes me shutter. I still had my necessaries stored in nice cardboard boxes that I acquired at least a decade ago. The labels have been crossed out and rewritten a dozen times and the corners are weary. But they are awkward and heavy, difficult for my older self to handle. Time to find something more manageable where I can see the contents before pulling it off the shelf.

I shed about a third of the contents of my bedroom and it felt GOOD! I organized and made things work more conveniently. That's a plus. AND after sorting through my stacks of bedding and towels, I realized that much of it was stained, full of holes, and thin. I tossed the stack of crappy and old, took my JC Penney coupon and white saled my way to nicer linens.

So it turned out to be a great idea to turn the living room into another bedroom. And the best upside? The boys now spend time congregating in my bedroom and are talking to me more than they have done in the last few years. Sweet.