From the Weekend: Scenes from Decluttering The Dining Room

Where we were Friday afternoon.

I wanted some room to breathe.

That's all.

Just a little space in this room where I hang out on the computer. Where I write. Plan menus. Plan my day. Pay bills. Keep the budget. Read. Sew. Work on my scrapbook projects (though they be few and far between).

I decluttered like a madwoman this weekend because I wanted this wall--without its shelves--to make sense.

Does that make sense?


This room is small. It is cramped. The furniture climbs every wall.

To the left of the desk:

To the right:

I secretly long for a real dining room. A dining room with a sideboard and flanking chairs. The top of the sideboard would be arranged in perfect symmetry with matching lamps at each end. A big painting in the middle. A table with flowers. A room only used three times a year--now that would be luxury!

But it is what it is.

And it had a whiff of "museum." You know what I mean? Way too many things that have nothing to do with my life right now. Too many homeschooling things left hanging about. A project I may or may not pursue. The scrapbook supplies. (I haven't scrapped since starting--and stopping Project life for the first 15 weeks of last year.)

Old planners, old notes and books and projects and classes I had clearly finished. The low hanging fruit. Paper. In binders.

Always start with the low hanging fruit.

Paper on the left is all that remained to keep from these binders. As soon as I'd checked I had some of these on the computer, I let them go, too.

The entire contents of the three inch binder were put into recycling. All of it--all of it had been homeschooling things. For one split second, I considered keeping the maps so I could fill them out--and then realised how crazy that was. I was able to empty the Simplify 101 class notes in the three binders on the left into it--and I was glad to. I refer to those notes--and I was always hunting the binders down.

I just kept finding more and more to let go of:

 I can't even remember what it all was!

An over full wastebasket. (This was all emptied into the recycling bag.)

Hooray for an empty shelf!

There was even more low hanging fruit on the Expedit. I washed out each cubby as I emptied it.

Here's the thing.

I left the tough stuff alone.

I thought about it.

I took some time and looked through some of my scrapbooks to ask myself whether I want to continue or not.

I thought about resuming my project.

I got advice.

And I kept asking: Do we have enough space yet?

This is 36" x 48" engineering print.

I love the drama. But, in the end, it demands a different room, I think.

And what we have is this room.

This one is 24 x 36. It is taped to an Ikea Ribba frame.

Some side by side before and afters--just 'cause they're fun.

This was a wonderful transformation.

 The change is a bit more subtle here:

Well, damn.

After all that.

Looking at this, now, side by side like that? I don't like it.

I can do better.