Archive for the No More Chaos
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Digging out of chaos — I have a study
It’s time for the big update you’ve been waiting for (if you’ve been with me long enough). I’ve dug out of the chaos in what was “the den” and is now “my study.”
My study is beautiful and, most important, I can use it for something besides a walk-in junk drawer. I used to stand in the doorway (because it was unsafe and unhealthy to walk any further) and toss stuff onto the pile. Now I can walk into the room and sit down at my desk and work at my computer.
A visiting grandchild can sit opposite me on that little stool and work at the desk with me. And there’s room beside me for Talitha to pull up a chair so we can look at school work together.
Or I can sit in my armchair and read my Bible or just do nothing.
AND now I have something I’ve never had before–a place especially for my sewing machine. And even better, it’s a fold-away shelf, so it’s out of sight when I’m not using it.
I am so thankful for the gifts God has given our son Benjamin, who took my ideas and wishes, worked with what was left in the room after I emptied it, got creative with Ikea pieces to make them fit with existing shelves, and coordinated the project.
I know I may not be entirely objective, but there are plenty of others besides me who think Piper Construction is pretty great.
Digging out of chaos — previous posts:
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Digging out of Chaos — Thanksgiving
Today I am thankful for the encouragement that so many of you have given me in my efforts to dig out of chaos. I am still working on the 1st main project, making a study for myself out of the junk room that was supposed to be my study.
Here’s the status. You saw the room with everything emptied out. Then you saw it with a new desk, carpet, windows, paint, etc. There is still more furniture I hope to get as the budget allows–2 under-desk drawer units and 2 lateral file cabinets that match the desk.
My Christmas wish list includes an armchair for comfortable reading and 2 adjustable-height chairs to pull up to the side of the desk opposite my chair. They will be for homeschool sessions with Talitha and for visiting grandchildren who want to do desk work near me.
In the meantime, I’ve borrowed a file cabinet from friends. This week I hope to get the files loaded in. I was feeling overwhelmed with the thought of sorting and organizing the files. Then one thought changed that feeling: I don’t have to sort the files now. I just need to get them in the drawer where they belong.
At this moment, Johnny and Talitha are hanging the valances I made today. The material is from Turkey and was the inspiration for the paint and carpet colors.
I wouldn’t have believed how even this one room freed from chaos has opened my heart to greater feelings of thanksgiving this week.
Friday, November 6th, 2009
We interrupt this series to bring you . . . an update
It’s the week before Orphan Sunday, and I’m not finished telling our adoption story. But I need to interrupt with an important update.
Early in October I showed you before and after pictures of my walk-in junk drawer–what it looked like before and after I emptied it totally.
I also listed lies I’d been discovering as I dug out of chaos.
Lest you think that was the end and maybe things just fizzled back to chaotic normal, here’s an update–a preview of more to come, Lord willing.
Tonight Talitha and Johnny were helping me finish assembling my new work table and getting everything plugged in. Just compare the corner to any of the “before” photos.
Monday, October 5th, 2009
I’ve dug out!
The walk-in junk drawer is empty. Here are the before and after pictures to prove it. The desk and file cabinet will be moved by someone else. The boxes in the corner are new shelves waiting to be assembled.
The cloth on the desk is a table cover from Turkey that I’ll use to make valances.
Thank you — a huge thank you — to my husband who hauled file box after file box in our faithful red wagon, to the garage to keep or to the trash to throw or to the car to donate to our favorite thrift shop
Speaking of our favorite thrift shop. I found out today it pays to donate where you’re a frequent shopper. When I took today’s load, the lady helping me said, “Oh, wait! I have something for you.” She handed me an item from yesterday’s load which had included a stack of new, never used photo albums. Except this album had family pictures in it. Guess I got a little too enthusiastic in my clearing yesterday.
Now I can leave with a clear conscience to go with my husband and daughter on a ministry trip. More on that later.
And when I return, I’ll start the next half–putting the room back together again.
Monday, October 5th, 2009
Correction to previous post
In my previous post, somehow I missed one lie: Nobody else sees my bedroom, so it doesn’t matter what it looks like.
I’ve added it as #21 (which meant renumbering the following items).
Thank you, The Vicar’s Wife, for pointing out the omission.
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Digging out of Chaos — LIES!
[updated: one missing lie added]
There’s been lots of time to think, digging out of the chaos of the walk-in junk drawer that’s supposed to be my study. (It was worse than the pictures show. They were taken AFTER I started working.)
As I dig out, I find myself uncovering decades of lying to myself.
Here’s the list, so far. Originally I was tweeting them one by one. Responses confirm I’m not the only one who tells herself these lies:
Digging out of chaos–LIE # 1. I paid good money for that. I can’t give/throw it away.
Digging out of chaos–LIE #2. I got that from my (fill in the blank). I can’t give/throw it away.
Digging out of chaos–LIE # 3. That thing still works. I can’t give/throw it away.
Digging out of chaos–LIE #4. It’s so ugly I can’t stand looking at it, but it’s still usable. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–LIE #5. I haven’t used it in 3 years, but I’m sure I’ll need it sometime. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #6. I missed the deadline for product return. But someday I’ll list it on Ebay. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #7. It doesn’t fit, but I’ll surely be be small/large enough next year. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #8. It doesn’t match anything else I wear, but I like the color so much. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #9. My children will value this some day. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #10. It’s still in the original box! This is going to be worth a lot someday. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #11. I’ll find someone who still has the [office machine] that uses that part. I can’t throw/give it away now.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #12. It’s a souvenir from that wonderful trip to [fill in the place]. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #13. I’ll move this to the [attic. garage. basement] till my children need it. I can’t throw/give it away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #14. The perfect organizing system will store everything. I won’t have to throw/give anything away.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #15. I’m the only one who knows what to do with each item of my chaos. No way can anybody help me.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #16. I’m so ashamed of this mess. No way can I let anybody help me.
Digging out of chaos–Lie #17. So many self-help books. Surely there’s a way to fix my life without shoveling out from under the mess.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 18. Planning the job & wearing work clothes all day is almost as good as actually clearing away the mess.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 19. My living room & dining room are neat, so things aren’t really out of control.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 20. I’ll just sort all this stuff into stacks and then it will be neat.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 21. Nobody else sees my bedroom, so it doesn’t matter what it looks like.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 22. I’m the only one who lives in the midst of mess like this. No way can I let anybody into my house & life.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 23. I’ll never be able to dig out, so I’ll just have to get used to living like this.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 24. It’s just normal that stuff, stuff, stuff. is burying what I’m stuffing inside–and burying me.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 25. There’s nothing I can do about this mess that’s burying me. I’ll never be able to follow my dreams.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 26. The wind has changed. The sky is lowering. Maybe Mary Poppins will drift in, snap her fingers & I’ll be dug out.
Digging out of chaos–Lie 27. Keep tweeting wisdom about digging out, and I won’t actually have to DO it. NOEL! Back to work!
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
Breaking up is hard to do
Okay. I’ve let you in on my dirty (literally) little secret.
My niece, Sunny, is a wise young wife and mother who empathizes with me. She deals with the same temptations I do.
So she sent me some good advice. It’s extra good because it’s so funny.
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Make up your mind, Self!
Conflicted? Yes. I bought these books at the same time.
One would have told me about “the hidden benefits of disorder, how crammed closets, cluttered offices, and on-the-fly planning make the world a better place.” I really wanted that to be true. Unfortunately, I never read the book–I couldn’t find it because I couldn’t remember whether it was in my crammed closet or cluttered office.
I bought them together and lost them together, but in the meantime I bought and am reading another copy of the one that tells me “It’s all too much” and that I need “an easy plan for living a richer life with less stuff.”
(Right there you have one of the reasons my husband’s been giving me for years that clutter is not good: you lose things and waste money.)
Well, turns out these books were in the cluttered office, supposedly my work room. I’ve taken to calling it the walk-in junk drawer. But that’s not going to last for long.
I unearthed the books in the midst of totally emptying the room so I can create a room I can love to be in. I’ll put back into the room only the things that belong there and that I want there.
Now I’ve told the world. So I better follow through. I’ll let you know.
