kattitudes

So sorry about my absence, dear friends. Things became mad, but oh my goodness, I accomplished things that I have not accomplished literally in years.

My last few posts inspired ME. I got to thinking about everything I had been talking about, and by golly, I decided that I really needed to make sure that I practiced what I preached.

So, as a result, to be blunt, I spent January working my butt off.

My house - no. This place is finally my home. My home is well on the way to being completely organized, as it was when I lived in London. I have been in the process of literally touching every single possession I own, determining if it brings me joy or not. If it does not, out the door it went.

The process is probably half done, but the house looks 100% better already. It literally looks like a different house.

The enjoyable part is that my husband is on board with this entire change. Bless his heart, he has waited patiently while I picked paint color after color after color….. after color all the while knowing that he agreed to paint the entire house from top to bottom. I am just a wee excited at this point!

I love, and I mean I LOVE the fact that I am finally digging deep into all the various supplies I have for making utterly incredible things, both for myself and for others. As I am opening drawers and pulling out the back of closets, I am finding the most amazing caches of horded treasures. Seriously.

I actually ran across a stock of gemstones that I had collected for years, forgetting that I had them. I was waiting both to learn to set gemstones and purchase the tools I needed to carve the gold, and I am finally ready…but I forgot that I owned this stock of gemstones. This is the beauty of organizing…I have literally saved myself a significant amount of money with these finds. And the upcoming items to share with you all? Oy. I cannot wait to get working.

I have family visiting from the other side of the country at the end of this month. I am trying to accomplish some major home DIY renovation projects before they arrive. As I work on these projects, I intend to keep you all in the loop.

Some of the projects that we have planned include building my own built-in bookcases (which should be interesting, to say the least). I need new window treatments, to reupholster at least three different chairs, build an ottoman, and I have a number of art projects to finish for different walls around the entire place.

In the meantime, we have Valentine’s Day that I need to start to address tomorrow. Plus I have a family wedding that was just announced in July, so lots of wedding planning and crafts this year too. And of course, as always, because I am obsessed, lots more jewelry. Oh man, I have been embroidering with beads lately and experimenting with a few different techniques. I will have to dig out the camera and try some shots for you.

I just cannot get over January. We finally picked themes for both guest bedrooms and are in the process of renovating and decorating.

Oh! I forgot this. We both went through every single pieces of clothing we owned. Amazing. Everything in the closet and drawers were re-cleaned and re-evaluated. If we did not wear it, it went out. If it was serviceable, it was donated. If it was no longer wearable, we are either using it ourselves for craft projects (so many of those coming up with the house renovations and redecoration) or for the DIY projects. Our wardrobes still have work, but they are well on the way to being more organized than they have been in many a year.

I found that as I worked all through January, it became a self-sustaining work. I would go through a project, thinking I had done it and was happy with the results (my wardrobe for example). But then, after I was finished, I would start thinking and realize that I would be happier if I were to let go of more of my older and/or more tattered clothing. I am finding that over and over. As I work, I find that I am willing to do more, clean more, go just a little further, organize just a little more. It feeds into itself. And as I get more done, there is less and less to do, so it gets easier and easier. The trick is just to start.

That is where January went. 2008 has started so well. I hope you are having as much fun in your year!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 3:39 am and is filed under kat chat, organization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.