Alright you guys, this is my monthly keeping it real post. For those of you who link up at my weekly link party, I’ve been telling you about my messy house. For those of you who know me, I’ve been telling you about my messy house. For my best friend who doesn’t believe my house is ever a mess (even though I tell her it is all the time, but I manage to clean it up before she comes over). This post is for you!
Do you see that? That is my front hallway…it was a royal mess! This is what happens to ones hallway when one takes on too many large projects at a time. Thankfully, I spent one day last week getting this down to a more manageable size…nothing like having the in-laws visit to get my butt in gear!
I started earlier this summer cleaning out our attic and shed. I was going to have a baby via c-section 12 days after moving into this house. I didn’t care about what went into the attic and shed. I just wanted my house put together and ready to welcome a new baby. Now 7 years later, it is finally time to tackle the mess. This massive pile is part, yes you read that correctly, part of our giveaway, sell, and trash pile.
There was so much crap that I didn’t even know I had.
This is what the other side of the hallway looked like. You guys, there was so much stuff, we could barely walk through this hallway. Can you see my Rubbermaid All Access Organizers…this was earlier this summer before I worked on that post.
This was a small section in my kitchen. These were boxes I needed to go through. I was also coming up with a system for labeling all the boxes and keeping track of what was in which box and where that box was stored. It will be so nice now that it is done.
This is my living room about 2 months ago…looks like quite the cozy place to hang out right? More boxes from the attic/shed.
My upstairs hallway was a mess as well. Boxes from the attic to go through.
Fast forward a month or two and now my hallway looks a lot better, but not as clean as I like it. After the attic/shed project, I organized our homeschool area, then started in on our playroom. Last week I started re-decorating our bedroom. So now the hallway has a few things left from the original attic/shed organization and then the playroom organization.
Finally I just added some things that we want to sell from our bedroom re-decoration. Geez…will I ever see the hall floor again. Probably if I would stop adding new projects I would see it much faster…what do you think? Pretty basic, right!?
In my living room, this week just my ironing board (still out because I need to sew a few more things) and a few boxes I had out for our playroom organization are left.
A little tip for you: can you see that green bin on the floor? I saved a whole bunch of organizing supplies I didn’t need, but on which I had spent good money. When I went to re-organize our playroom, I pulled out the bin and didn’t spend one penny on new bins and such to organize. It was quite lovely!
Thankfully, I can end with the best…this area is done! Yay. It now houses our puppet theater which the girls often use for a store.
Whew! I’m down to just needing to sell a few things and I might have my house back and be able to enjoy it again. Quite the busy, messy summer organizing our house. Hopefully I will enjoy all the work as we progress through our school year.
Do you ever take on too many projects at once? Any tips for getting it finished when busy with other things? I could use help in getting it all done and actually out of here.
I can totally relate to taking on too many projects at once! I’ll get a project almost done and I’ll see that something else needs doing more so I leave a wake of unfinished project!
Yes, it is the never ending working on one project creates another project which creates another project….sounds VERY familiar and fun, too! 😉
Take care,
KC
I feel like I always take on too many projects at once! And then I get overwhelmed and never finish any of them. I’ve been working on a vanity refurb now for almost a month and it’s still not finished lol
I know it can be fun and frustrating at the same time to work on more than one project at a time. I usually make it back around to finish them, but I sometimes wonder if I wouldn’t be more efficient if only did one thing at a time. Oh well…
Take care,
KC
My goodness you did get yourself in a pickle!! At least you made some money and even got all crafty!! Here’s to you for keeping it real!! LOL ~Leah~
Yes, too many projects, but as you said I found a way to make something great from it. In the end it is worth it as I got rid of tons of crap in our house and that always feels great to me.
Take care,
KC
I so understand! You are making good progress! 🙂
Thanks so much! Sometimes it seems like it would be boring to only do one thing at a time.
KC
Wow! What a difference between the disorganization and organization! You do have great organizing ideas – bins rule!
Thanks, Ilene! Yes, disorganization drives me nuts. Sometimes I wish it didn’t, that I could just be one of those moms who doesn’t care, but I do…so I keep working at it. You are right…bins rule!
Take care,
KC
Thanks for sharing!
Carrie
Your welcome…hopefully my mess didn’t scare you right away…hehe!
KC
Oh, KC! Thanks goodness for some bloggers keepin’ it real! If it weren’t for you, most of us wouldn’t have the cajones to even try- who an be so perfect all the time?! This may sound nuts, but thank you for your awful mess!!
Yes, seeing as how the name of my blog is “The REAL Thing with the Coake Family”, I need to make sure to keep it real. At least that is my philosophy. You are so welcome for my awful mess…. glad I could help someone else realize that all the pretty blog pictures don’t always tell the whole story.
Take care,
KC
KC, I’ll tell you…that could have been my house in those pics. We have lived here 5+ years, and we are in a perpetual state of remodel. And unfortunately, that means regular cleaning/organizing falls to the wayside.
I appreciate your guts in keeping it real. Over on my blog, my partner and I are very big on that. Dispelling the myth of perfection with posts like this is the only way we are going to make a dent in the keeping up with the Jones’ induced mom guilt.
🙂
Rach
I can’t imagine 5 years in a perpetual state of re-model. It must be both fun and tiring at the same time. I can totally see how regular cleaning and organizing fall by the way side. Here’s to reducing the keeping up with the Jones’ guilt for all people and moms! Cheers to that!
KC
Thank you!!!! We’re in the process of cleaning out before we move into our house and I feel like we’re living in a constant mess….it’s so refreshing to know that I’m not the only blogger out there who has to hide the mess for the pictures!
Yes, I think amongst bloggers it is more normal than we all realize. I guess not many people want to show the disaster, which I can understand.
Hope your move and cleaning out before hand go well.
Take care,
KC
Are you sure you didn’t take these pictures of my house!? It’s so nice to know that I am not alone in my mess. My children already tell me when I go to clean out a room that all of that stuff will just end up piled up somewhere else, like the hallway. They know me too well! Good luck with your organizing. At least you have the excuse that your stuff is left from your move. I have lived in the same house since moved from my parents and got married 16 years ago. I started with nothing and now have more than most people!
I heart Keeping it Real posts! We live life and things happen – don’t stress! I’ve said before, as bloggers, we’re usually pretty good at moving stuff around to take photos – and I wonder how many of the pictures I look at and pin have been done just that way! Found you at It’s Overflowing and you have a new follower!
I always find that in order to get one area organized, first a bigger mess gets made. Oh well, at least progress is being made. Good luck with getting it all finished and lovely.
Even though I know your mess temporary, I will say “Welcome to the dark side my friend” lol!
I like posts that are “real”. Even though I am also an organizer and a clutter coach, my house is not nearly as clean and organized as people might think. But I think back to what it was like years ago when I was in my “clutter phase” and I realize how much progress I have made. My house IS messy – mainly because I work 50 or so hours a week plus do a ton of stuff with Scouts and other diversons. But there is not an overwhelming amount of “stuff” in it and what I am keeping is reasonably organized. Mostly it just needs a good sweeping/vaccuming/scrubbing session!
My suggestion to you would be to just work on it for 15 minutes a day – at a regular time of the day – maybe while the kids are getting ready for school, or when dinner is cooking. I find small amounts of time are much easier to schedule than large blocks of time and it’s surprising how much you can accomplish in just a 15 minute time period. By the end of two weeks, you will be noticing a huge difference.
I love seeing “real” homes. The immaculate ones freak me out.
KC I have a good story for ya. This last week I just lacked motivation to straighten up the very smallest of little messes (I managed to stay up on dishes, kitchen counters and cleaning the table, but that was the extent). Slim Jim had a very busy day at work and he called to ask me if he could put a bunch of hamburgers for his customer appreciation day for work in my deep freeze. I obliged but then I confirmed that it would only be him (because it was pretty crazy between sewing stuff and kids toys) and he said, “No Charles (store manager at a different store than Slim Jim) will be carrying things in as well.” Mind you our deep freeze is in our tiny tiny utility room that barely has room for the washer, dryer and freezer. And is usually the hiding place for unused totes and unfolded laundry. I rushed to get the stuff off the ground and used the unused totes to pick up quickly then I cleared the utility room in hurry and a fast vacuum and sweep. It was 30 minutes of sheer craziness. The next day I spent nearly the whole day doing the tasks that had been neglected in the last week. Glad that most of my photos I step out of the mess to take pictures of the kiddos.
With Love,
Scary
Yes, I think we are pros at moving the stuff around. No one had any idea in any of my summer posts that this is what my house really looked like. 🙂
Take care,
KC
Hehe! No it was really my house, I promise! It seems that it is really easy to accumulate things, especially when you haven’t moved in a while. This is the longest I’ve lived anywhere and I now see how easy it is for the stuff to pile up. It drives me nuts…so I keep working to purge.
Take care,
KC
Yes, it is always that one. Things get worse before they get better. You are right, progess is being made. I’m at the point of just donating things because they haven’t sold. Soon, I will have my hallway back! YAY!
Take care,
KC
LOL! Thank you for the welcome!
KC
Thank you so much for your suggestions. I am actually a super organized person…which would be why this process drives me nuts. It is just that between the two kids and working this blog and such and so on, I can’t tackle projects in a day or two like I used to. So now my house remains a mess for a longer period of time while I am finishing the project. I am so not a clutter magnet…drives me nuts.
Your suggestions are super fabulous and work really well as when I get overbusy, that is exactly what I do and it works perfectly.
Thanks so much,
KC
LOL! Yes the immaculate ones are only in magazines or at my Mom’s house. 😉
Take care,
KC
Don’t you just simultaneously love and hate times like that. They are great because things get cleaned up (at least I like that feeling) and also so stressful to hurry up and get the house presentable. I’m not sure others really notice or care either. I think it is just my own really caring rather than so much what other people think. I know I don’t really care when I go to other people’s houses…though if I walked in to what my house looked like with all the boxes, I might wonder if they were moving or hoarding….lol!
Take care,
KC
I appreciate you keeping it real! LOL! I went through my house last week and cleared out a bunch of stuff we never use. It felt so good to have cabinets and drawers emptied. Unfortunately the donate bags are still sitting in my garage, but it’s progress! LOL!!
Yes, I think it always feels great to get rid of stuff. I love having some empty space. It makes me feel like I have room to breathe and I can think and be creative. At least you have a garage…that is soooo where mine would be but we don’t have a garage. The front hallway or the the laundry room end up being my collecting area. It gets in the way. As you said though, it is progress none the less. Baby steps toward the goal, right?
Take care,
KC
KC,
I loved reading this post. Thank you for putting yourself out there. Sometimes it’s hard to make yourself so vulnerable, but it feels like freedom once you’ve shared it. We’ve done Operation Honesty and other posts like this and it made me realize that people could take me as I am or not at all. Too often there is the stereotype of the perfect woman who does it all flawlessly (perfect house, canning, sewing, scrap-booking, taking care of neighbors, volunteering for PTA, running kids to soccer practice, always being perpetually prepared). My mother-in-law is the closest I know to this and her house is not perfect (there are still corners or room that collect clutter). As hard as she might try, she cannot do it all. The problem is that there are only 24 hours in a day and we have to take at least a couple of those to sleep. In addition to this we’ve got 36 hours worth of work to do each day and the trick is to figure out which fire needs put out first. Sorry this is so long. I read this days ago and have been thinking how great it is to be real about life.
With Love,
Al @ Shaffer Sisters
The funny thing is that as I have been doing these Keeping It Real posts all year, it gets easier and easier to just share with everyone. Of course, when I run into someone I know personally and they mention my blog, I’m a little less in the not caring department…lol! But I started these posts because I never want this space to be about being perfect. It is just way too stressful. While I love a good craft project and love great photography…I want the whole story to be told as well.
I do often wish for an additional hour or two in the day. Though when I make them by not getting enough sleep, I pretty much always regret it.
Thanks so much for leaving your comment. I really appreciate it.
KC
Once I mentioned to a casual friend the my house was a mess. Her reply, “Oh, I am so happy to hear that! It does my soul good to know that I am not alone.”
My favorite method: Divide & Conquer. My technique is based on my mood/need. I choose a battle plan & stick to it. 1. If I have the urge to purge then I go on a grab n trash–every room– grab the most obvious or gross stuff first, then its a serious hunt (in closets or cabinets) to purge. I only touch the things that go. 2. If I need order ASAP then its a top layer grab n trash coupled with a everything that has a place in its place. The room/house is now 2/3s clean & I vacuum around what is left. I never stash/hide stuff because it just comes back to haunt me later. Anyway 2/3s plus vacuuming looks pretty dapper. 3.At times, I theme clean: all ________ in their places. This works very well if you have an assistant or two because everyone knows what to do & where things go. I employ this most this for laundry (clean or dirty) and books. 4. If I need to have one room perfect I divide it into 4 zones and perfect it one zone at a time.
All your ideas for Divide and Conquer sound like great ideas to get it done and get it done quick.
KC
It’s nice to see another blogger who sometimes has a mess! Many seem to post only the best or stage the shots so it looks like we always have it together, but sometimes I’m afraid that makes for an unreachable goal for readers. Thanks for sharing the reality!
I think you have a great point. Those perfectly staged photos sure do help us all feel like we ‘should’ be doing better or striving for more. Yet the truth is that there are very few if any perfect Pinterest homes.
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment.
KC
Wow…this just like my extra bedroom or “my office ” according to my husband. I used that room to store or work on my project like reupholsters furniture. Also, all my eBay stuff. So you can imagine lots of stuff sitting on chair, laying on the floor. Sometimes I’m afraid if someone will come without give me a call first 🙂
This post truly great and help me to realize this is your real life 🙂 Not magazine life 🙂
Thanks for sharing !!
Have a great and blessed weekend !
best,
Marlin
I’m glad you could see my real life and not the magazine life. I know there is usually somewhere in everyone’s house that is that catch all space. It is hard to keep it organized when you are in the midst of multiple projects/businesses at one time as well. May people always call first before they come! Have a great day.
KC