Making Your Home a Haven Monday: Pick a Pile!
Today's project is to tackle a pile of any sort in your home--a pile of paper, a pile of magazines, a pile of laundry, a pile of mending--you get the idea. Find a pile that needs attention and get busy!Motivated by the closet-cleaning and dresser-cleaning success, today I'm tackling a long-overdue project--a pile of clothes in our bedroom. This isn't a pile of laundry needing folded (thanks to all your help and suggestions, we've been almost laundry-pile-free for a few weeks now!), this is a pile of girl's clothes that need to be gone through. Some of them fit Kaitlynn, some of them will fit her soon, and some of them are too little for her. I need to go through it and box up what no longer fits her and organize what does fit or will fit into her drawers. I'm also considering moving most of her clothes to Kathrynne's now-empty bottom dresser drawer.
I'll post before and after pictures of my progress, though again it will be rather humbling. I hope it will give someone inspiration and my commitment to posting pictures means I'll hopefully get this project finished!
By the way, do you have any great tips for keeping piles to a minimum at your home? I'd love to hear!
My biggest advice to keep on top of paper piles is to just, well, constantly keep on top of them. It takes effort, but you can train yourself to do it pretty effortlessly:
-When the mail comes in, stop by the recycling bin and dump all the junk mail in it; don't even let the paper clutter it in your house.
-When the newspaper comes, go through it and toss everything you can.
-Have a place for filing bills, magazines you want to save, and special cards/letters. Go through these periodically and toss what you don't need or want anymore.
-Don't allow piles to start. Seriously, a small stack of paper seems to easily morph into a larger, much more daunting stack of paper. File or toss, don't pile. If you don't need it, love it, or use it--toss it.
Those are just a few of my ideas. I'd love to hear yours!
Graphic from AllPosters.com
---------------
Join in the fun! Post about the pile you tackle on your blog (with before and after pictures!) or share anything else related to making your home a haven and then come back here and leave your link below so we can all be inspired and motivated.
Labels: Making Your Home a Haven
posted by Crystal Paine at 5:00 AM
20 Comments:
Thank you for posting this today! I have three different piles I have been looking at for a few weeks now. I put them on my "to do list" this morning thinking I probably still wouldn't "attack" them, but you have now given me a challenge...and I like a challenge :0) Results coming soon!
Oh Crystal, you are so tough on us! But I love it! How about for today I pick the pile of scattered thought in my head and try to get them organized! I have so much going on. How about some bridal shower ideas? And don't forget about our Bless the Bride FireSale this week.
blessings, Penny Raine
http://www.pennyraine.com/blog
I had to laugh at the "keep on top of the paper piles" comment. I detest piles but now that my children are older I find that paper piles grow all over the place. My ds is in a "crafting-craze" and he loves to cut up paper, color on it, glue it together and call it something. Well, then momma tries to clean-up the clutter and ds "can't let go" of his masterpiece. AHHHHHHHHH!
I'm trying to maintain a keep a few rule and toss the rest but it is hard. Right now his bedroom wall has about 15 pieces of paper taped to it with different creations on it. I love his creativity but struggle with the chaos it can make. I started asking him to tape them up in his room because he would tape them up all over the place and then get upset when they had to come down.
AH, such is life with a budding writer/artist/composer/theologian!
I'm trying to "stay on top of it" without climb on anyone else in the process.
:)
I am so bad with piles! I say that my piles are organized. I need to down grade a few. This morning, I got rid of 5 or 6 small piles in the living room!! Yay!! And that was before I read your post.
Crystal, thank you for helping us prepare beautiful homes for our families! You are so on it today! Easter is coming and I would love to just make the dinner, enjoy the gifts we give our children and have family at our home, without the stress and worry about what the house looks like! Just this little post from you today will take care of hours of work I would have done in the next couple of weeks. Be sure to post pictures, it makes me feel like you're actually a normal person and not a "super women" type! oh, and I need to order that book about doing more in less time! Take care!
~Michelle
I took a organizing class once and they told us that if you don't do something with a piece of paper the first time you touch it, you will touch it 50 more times before it is filed, thrown out, etc... yikes!
Anybody have a handy tip for keeping your husband from contributing the piles of clutter? My husband opens all the mail every day, then puts it in a pile on the table. Eventually, the pile grows so large, and it gets moved to the office where it becomes one of the many piles on the desk. We don't have to worry about losing bills because all of them are paid automatically.
Any ideas?
I have a file for all bills to go into as soon as they come in. I also go through the mail before it hits the counter. If it is something to keep I put it in the file, if not I throw it away. I also go through magazines and tear out and file the articles I want to keep. I have files for: crafts, sewing, quilting, health, bills, game instructions etc. Don't pile it, file it. Don't put it down put it up. I read Emilie Barnes book on organizing and it CHANGED my life. I know where every single thing in my house is. I have kept it up for 13 years now. Keeping house will be a breeze and you will have more free time and a clean home all the time.
What if DH loves piles?!!! He says this is how he keeps his things where he can remember them, and if I move them or try to organize them it's a bad day in our house. We finally agreed that this cannot happen on the kitchen table anymore, but I've been really keeping my mouth shut about the spare bedroom/office. I almost can't even go in there because it pains me to look at it, but I can't touch it. Should I just try not to worry about (at least it's not in the main rooms)? Any advice?
My inexperienced marriage advice for those of you whose husbands like piles is to pray about it, ask the Lord for wisdom and a heart of love. If God leads you to, I'd encourage you to sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk with your husband and share with him how this problem creates frustration for you. See if you can come up with a creative solution together.
I'd also encourage you to look at the positive--instead of being frustrated every time you see a pile, thank God you have a husband to create the pile. Sometimes a simple attitude adjustment can go a long way!
And also be open to working on areas that might be a frustration to your husband as well. :) Any time I'm feeling frustrated about something, I remember that I'm sure there are just as many things I do which create frustration for him. We're all learning and growing and maturing!
I'd love to hear suggestions, encouragement, and advice from other more experienced wives.
I didn't check your blog until after 2:00. What was I doing before? I was going through a pile of papers; coupons, school work, pantry inventory sheets, papers for our Keepers At Home group, and internet information. I have clipped coupons, filed internet info., found a place for the KAH papers, school papers can wait until tonight, and I still need to complete the inventory sheets. They are on my to do list.
The best advice I can give on tackling piles is to be organized. Have a specific place to put things. For instance; when we go through clothes and have some to give to Good Will, I immediately put them in a bag and set them in DD's closet. The next time we head to town, we pull out the bag and take it. This afternoon, we will be going through our movies that we wantto donate to the county library. We will put them in a bag, in the closet, and will take them tomorrow.
By corraling and keeping piles moving, they don't clutter up our house. That's the goal, anyway.
Tafy Sills from Blackberry Lane Farm
My husband loves piles.. Our solution? Baskets. Yes, I gave him 3 or 4 baskets in the area's he likes to pile and kindly asked him to keep his piles in these neat little baskets. :) HTH
I saw on a TV show that a good way to keep on top of papers is to remember this acronym: RAFT. That's Read-Act-File-Toss. Those four things are really the only tasks when it comes to papers. Some of the 'toss' (aka 'junk') mail, though, I'd tear up really small or put through a shredder. You don't want anyone using a credit card application with your name on it. 'Read' is obvious, as is 'File.' 'Act' could mean a bill to pay, a letter to answer, something to record on your calendar.
As for my pile, I guess it's the pile of my youngest son's clothes I have out on the couch. He'll be doing this pile himself, since he mentioned he needs new clothes. So he has to sort out what fits and what goes to charity! Since we store his clothes in my office/sewing room, it will be nice to pare them down a bit!
Thanks for the tips! Thankfully, my husband is not insistent upon his piles, he just doesn't like to take the time to file stuff.
I have a record-keeping question- what is a good rule of thumb regarding keeping various bills/statements and such? We have a few credit cards (which we don't use and are furiously trying to pay off) that I'm not sure what to do with. Is there any reason I need to keep them?
My previous comment should have said that we have a few credit card statements that I'm not sure what to do with.
Thank you Crystal and thirdtimemomma! Those are great nuggets of wisdom! I will definitely strive to be thankful for my loving, Godly husband everytime I see his piles, and maybe I'll invest in some baskets!
Well, I decided to try this challenge by cleaning off my little table next to the couch where I tend to pile books and knitting projects. Once it was clear I moved on to the piles on my husbands desk. 6 hours later, the entire room was spotless, aside from the little table, which had become piled with the odds and ends from everywhere else in the room. lol.
As for how to assist your husband in not creating large piles of paperwork, here's how I attempt to handle the problem. My husband loves to take a nap when he gets home from work. I sort through all the papers and file what I think is necessary. The remainder I put on the bed and tell him to put whatever I can shred on the floor. Since he wants to get to his nap he'll attend to them quickly, and usually when confronted with 3-5 pieces of paper a day its far less daunting and easier to part with than when you allow it to become a large stack.
Thank you for this challenge! I finally talked a pile of filing that I have been putting off for... about nine months. And it only took forty five minutes!
My husband and I keep bills, bank statements, and credit card statements for a year. Since I check the statements online anyway, I have switched many of them to paperless (so the company just keeps an electronic copy). It is really nice to have less paper coming in.
I love thirdtimemomma's comment about the solution to piles = baskets. My fiancee's solution is drawers or under the bed.
Well, I've finally tackled my desk. It's been piling up...wish I would have gotten a picture before I moved most of it to the floor. It's a good think the keyboard and mouse sit on a slide out drawer, otherwise, I would have never found them.
A couple thoughts came to mind in regard to husbands . . . Crystal, you kind of touched on this, and I think your advice is wise. As usual, you are wise beyond your years!
Instead of focusing on what I wish my husband might clean up or take care of, I try to keep my focus on what I can control. When everything I can do is done (junk mail thrown out, bills paid, statements filed, etc.) the one little pile left on the table doesn't seem like so much. I do think it is reasonable to talk to husbands kindly about this if it truly bothers you, but if after the talk nothing changes, it is usually best not to bring it up again. Even if we mention it once again kindly it comes across as nagging which brings no desire for change. I agree with Crystal, to see the pile as a loving reminder that you have a husband, maybe too tired after a hard day's work to take care of paper clutter.
I am also a firm believer in the power of prayer. It may not change my husband, but it can always change my own attitude and perspective. I remember reading in a book (don't remember which one now . . . )that when we catch ourselves stewing about something we wish would change, to catch that opportunity to pray about it. God doesn't want to hear our sulking and whining, but rather, "in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6
Thank you so much, Crystal for your thoughts and challenges to keep our hearts at home.
~Erin
Post a Comment
<< Home