Exhibit D: Foyer and Hall

Welcome to my crap! Here's the view as you walk in the front door:





More crap stuck at the end of the hall:

Since I took these photos the first week of January, I have done a tiny bit of chipping. Cleared a couple of things off the fridge (some of it got moved to the counter, arggh). Emptied a basket of stuff that's been living on the kitchen floor (basket relocated to the living room, slowly re-filling with different crap). The biggest change is a shelving unit I've set up in this hallway. I'll put up a pic this Sunday. Right now, it's the same pile of crap, only stacked instead of piled. Sunday, there will be less crap. The empty basket will be re-emptied and put somewhere useful. The trifecta? clearing off the fridge.

This is achievable. See you Sunday.

Exhibit C: The Kitchen

Where do I start?

The countertop?

This mess? Which showcases at least one failed attempt at organizing. Yes, that's a nifty carousel/file/pen-pencil/whatnot storage unit on top there. Buried under paper. Yes it is.


Easily overlooked, or maybe underlooked, because I'm short, is the top of the fridge. It's a favorite place to stash things that I don't want my kids getting into:

Oddly enough, or maybe not, the kitchen is where my worst paper problems accumulate. Mail & schoolwork. You wouldn't think that would be so tough to deal with.

Exhibit B: Master Bedroom

I have a laundry problem:

And a storage problem:


There are two corollary problems here.

1. We actually have a fair amount of good storage in this house, but we have about 20% more CRAP than will actually fit. (Umm. That number might be higher than 20%, it's hard to say). Which means we're gridlocked. I can't clear out the spaces we have to use them well because they're full of stuff which may or may not be crap. That whole thing they do on TV where they pull all the stuff out on the front lawn and put it tarps? I see how that really works, and yet... SO not happening here.

2. There are a limited number of places where I can put things that are "safe" from the girls. Mostly, there are zero, but I have varying levels of denial about some of them. The master bedroom is one where I *expect* them to leave stuff alone.

A nice reward for clearing this room of clutter would be a new paint job. The photos don't do justice to its mauve-based, gold-besmeared fugliness. I also fantasize about covering one wall with elfa based bookshelves....

Exhibit A: The Living Room

This is the quiet room. It's really *almost* OK, and when it's tidy, I actually like it a lot. I enjoy spending time here and reading. Just a few spots to deal with. Low-hanging fruit.

The tidiest messy spot in the house, this corner holds the last of the yet-to-be-unpacked stuff:

The End Table: this table is located at the transition between the living room and the kitchen. It catches overflow from the kitchen table when we need to clear off the table, (mail, school papers) and is also a primary spot for stacks of books (mine and the girls'). When it's redeemed, I'm going to swap out the lamp -- it's an OK style but it's broken; the shade falls off at the merest touch or a heavy step nearby (sucks!!):

Raison d'être

My house, quite simply, is out of control.

There is too much paper.

Too many clothes.

Too many dishes, pots, pans, utensils, gadgets.

Too many toys.

Too much... uncategorizable stuff. Ye gods, the stuff, it is suffocating me.

Did I mention paper?

I'm going to take a deep breath, and post a whole bunch of terribly embarrassing photos. Each Sunday, I hope to post a photo or two showing a tiny bit of progress.

It is my devout hope that at the end of the year, by New Years' Eve of 2010, I can come up with some other completely different sort of goal and retire this blog.

But week by week, I swear I will chip away at the stuff.