Mommy Moments

The Big Fall Issue

By Melanie Lewis

I just received my new BIG FALL ISSUE of my favorite magazines in the mail.  Promises of delightful makeovers for home and body, beautification, and de-cluttering prospects galore!  It’s loaded with beautiful, colorful, glossy and crisp designs splashed on the pages.  It’s an escape from reality.  I’m overdue for a makeover.  Can I turn my closet chaos into California Closet or my mish-mash stuff into Shabby Chic?

Where to begin?  I start by opening the pages of the magazines and it appears that I need to take stock of who I am, what I love and how I live.  There were many tips online that seem to follow suit.  My kids offered the most practical solutions for their own spaces.  At camp one of the counselors offered a trunk makeover as a prize for best bed-making. The kids learned all kinds of nifty folding tricks to make the space look neater and make the items easier to find.  T-shirts are folded with the sleeves in thirds, then half and half again so that it’s a little bundle, socks are rolled into little balls, underwear is folded.  It really is a space- saver to rid the unmatched and unraveling items.  They are very proud of their drawers!

Apparently, I’m not the only one struggling with the Placement for my possessions. At the top of the best-selling list for many weeks has been, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, by Marie Kondo.  Better known as the KonMarie method.

Some KonMarie tips:

* Discard unwanted items first, and consider your items in order from clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items to those with sentimental value.

* If you are organizing your books, get every single book from around your home and pile them up in one place. Pick each one up and ask “Does this bring me joy?”

If not, thank the item for the role it’s played in your life and throw it away.

* There is no need for special storage containers, hiding things from view only creates the illusion of decluttering.

* Get rid of mobile phone packages, manuals, and CDs, if you need help you can always go online or ask at the shop you bought it.

* Don’t feel guilty for throwing a gift away, the purpose of a present is for it to be received

* The entire process of decluttering usually takes between six months to a year

* Once you have discarded all your items, then make sure you designate a place for the things you have left, this helps to keep your home clutter free.

I find this process very difficult.  For starters, I have trouble putting things in the trash, they need to be sold, recycled, repurposed or given away.  Those activities are much more time-consuming.  I love storage bins for keeping items.  I whole-heartedly agree with getting rid of manuals and packaging.  All manuals are online.  Packaging is a fire-hazard.  Recycle them.  Recently a friend was moving and she paid $1500 for a dumpster to remove 20 years of clutter.  So much for saving money if in the end, you’re paying to top-off the landfill.

So I’m grabbing some stuff for the flea market from shelves, boxes, and drawers. I’m going to let the universe resolve the dilemma. I keep what doesn’t sell after a day in the fairgrounds.  I had the perfect garage sale one time.  Everything but 2 suitcases of clothes and a box of my photos was up for sale.  I was moving where everything would have to be put in storage.  At the end of the day; a bed, some dishes and a box of floatsum and jetsum remained.  It turned out that after I settled in my new place, that’s all I needed.

I’ve churned through piles for donation with a carload to go and decided to put my chips all in for painting the dining room.  According to the magazine, painting gives the most bang for the buck to freshen up a space.  It’s a makeover that I hope will help the house feel more like a home.