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Project #1: Our new collectible cubbie cabinet!

Today I completed two more small projects on my quest to excavate all corners of my home during 2010.

Project #1:  Our Cubbie Cabinet

The first involved hanging a small cabinet (or whatever you want to call it) used to display collectibles.  John was sweet enough to take some time to hang it for me then I had lots of fun arranging several collectible items in each of the cubbies.  This made me very happy.  Why so?

1. I move something useful out of our garage and put it to good use.  This shelf had been living in our garage for about 2.5 years.  I liked it and couldn’t bear to get rid of it but I didn’t have a proper home for it (hence, the garage–the home for the homeless.)  John recently removed a picture from our wall that he gave to his mother (she loved it so much) and, voila!, I found a perfect new home for the shelf.

2. I have a beautiful new home for several collectibles that are very meaningful to me and John.  I am not a huge fan of collectibles but these are all items that have meaning, are beautiful and have mostly come from our families (silver baby cups from my Aunt Mary and her sister; John’s engraved silver napkin ring–yes, you read correctly;  a decorative dish that belonged to my Auntie Pauline; a saki set John’s Auntie Anne gave to him–you get the idea.)

3. This project encouraged me to dig out some collectibles from boxes and dark corners of the closet to give them a proper home.  What’s the purpose of having these items if  you just hide them and never get to see and enjoy them?

4. It also encouraged me to get out the silver polish and clean some tarnished items that were in need of a good shine. (I still have some more work to do in that area but I’ve gotten a good start.)   It felt good to take tender loving care of some of our beautiful things.

Now each day we’ll enjoy the fruits of our labor!

Project #2:  Organizing my Necklaces

My necklaces hanging inside my linen cupboard door.

The second project was organizing my necklaces. This Christmas I received several necklaces thanks to my mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law.  Add those to my old favorites and some recent purchases I made (thanks to a recent Lia Sophia party….you know how that goes) and I was overflowing in necklaces.

Recently I saw a magazine photo of necklaces hanging from clever little hooks, all on display so as not to be forgotten and easy to reach.  I loved the idea but where could I possibly hang my necklaces in such a small bathroom/dressing area?   Ah ha!  The back of my linen closet door!  Our bathroom has a tall narrow linen closet with two cabinet doors.  I bought a package of small hooks with adhesive (that is supposed to come off easily in case I want to ever remove them–we’ll see about that.)  I hung two rows of hooks and added my collection of necklaces.

Organizing heaven!

The star lights we bought in Healdsburg that finally got hung this week!

I love this time of year.  For me it’s always a time of reflection on the past year and excitement about my hopes for the New Year.

Last night I saw the movie Julie & Julia (or is it the other way around?) and I loved it.  I was so inspired by Julie’s commitment to her one-year challenge of cooking all 524 of the recipes in Julia Child’s first cookbook and recording her journey on her blog.  It got me to thinking about the year ahead of me and what challenges I could take on that would be fun, significant (to me) and maybe even worthy of recording on my own blog.  (My poor neglected blog that is in desperate need of rejuvenation and focus.)

Two ideas came to mind pretty quickly.  The first–spending the next year excavating every corner and object in my house to clean out, organize, repair, give away, polish, clean, make use of, use up (and anything else you can do to stuff) so in the end, my home is tidy and clean and contains only things that I love or are useful.   (I’ve actually gotten a great head start on this project which is why this one came so quickly to mind–more to come on that.)  The second idea is spending the next year reconnecting and/or connecting more closely with friends and family I haven’t been in connect with in a long time (I’ll also include here doing a much better job of remembering birthdays, spending more time with my girlfriends who I’ve neglected since I got married, calling family I haven’t talked to in ages–you get the idea.)  The first idea appeals to my orderly side.  It would be lots of work but I would feel soooooo good with the end result (and I do have a huge desire to declutter, pare down and get organized.)  The second idea is definitely more worthwhile in the grand scheme of things (people before stuff) but I know it will be a  far greater challenge–in many instances, I’ll have to plunge into the deep waters of fear (of rejection) and that’s a hugely scary thought.  Yikes.  (What if my old high school friends don’t want to reconnect with  me?)

For the past 24 hours these ideas have been tossing and turning in my head–one I’d love to do, the other I should do/need to do.  One that feels frivolous and unimportant (but I know it’s not really–my home is my safe haven and the more positive energy I can create the better) and the other that feels somewhat heavy and daunting but also potentially exciting and I know it will bring me tremendous emotional rewards and enrich my life immensely.

So, why do I need to choose?  Why not do both?  Maybe that’s just what I’ll do.  I’ll noodle on that idea for a few days.

I mentioned earlier that I’ve already started my home excavation project.  Here are a few things I’ve done:

1.  We had a big basket on top of our refrigerator.  It held a dozen Ball canning jars and lids.  They were covered in about 4+ years’ worth of dust.  Yuk.  I took them down, washed them all in the dishwasher then took the clean jars and put them in a box that was covered tight (to keep the dust out) and stored them neatly in the garage.  I told John that if they weren’t used within the next year, we’d toss them.  (His mom is visiting and she is talking about making lemon marmalade with lemons from our tree.  Maybe they will get used after all.)

2. I helped my youngest step-son start to clean out his room.  He already set aside two bags of clothing and other items to take to Goodwill and filled two more bags with trash.  We’ve got a lot more work to do but we’re off to a good start.  I was so happy when he told me he wanted to keep his room “simple.”  He only uses his room to sleep (he prefers to hang out in the den where the TV and computer are) so he doesn’t want any extra furniture or stuff in his room.  Wow, if he can learn to keep things simple at this age, he’ll be way ahead of the game.

3. John and I bought two beautiful, star-shaped decorative lights.  The light bulb goes inside the stars and the light shines through cut outs that are covered with tissue paper.  (Not so easy to describe, are they? See the photo!)  We  had one for three years, gathering dust on a shelf yet to be hung.  The other we bought at the same store (in Healdsburg, Sonoma County) just a few weeks ago during our Thanksgiving road trip.  We hung them both together in the den this week and they look super cool.  After three years, a project is complete.

Cleaning, decluttering and putting our stuff to good use.  I can feel the positive energy in the house already!