Monday, March 14, 2011

Paper piles



Ok, so this week the goal is paper piles. I'm choosing to focus on my desk, although any flat surface in my house qualifies for this challenge. I will definitely have to tackle the "ledges" as well because they are the most apparent paper clutter in the house.



I did as Tsh over at Simple Mom suggested and gathered everything together into a great big pile. I actually did this twice. First I tackled the ledges and then on a separate night (ie last night) I did the desk. Knowing that I had to completely finish in one night because I was going to work in the living room (and Vee has no respect for piles that have already been sorted) made me break up the project a little more.
The good news at our house is that clean does lead to more clean.
Once the ledges were cleaned off, then the kitchen counters started staying cleaner too.

Once the ledges were cleared off, I was once again annoyed by the screw holes from where we attached them. This time they got filled with joint compound and are ready for a new coat of paint. Perhaps if they are lovely, I will be more motivated to keep them clean.
The desk was next, it feels like I've cleaned it off a thousand times. Our system works well, until I get to those fuzzy sentimental kid items. Then the inbox starts to overflow with things "I am still deciding on". The one thing that has always worked for us is receipts. They get laid right on the keyboard so you can't do anything (like this blog) until you enter them into the budget. Then they are immediately tossed into the trash (we rarely have any that are needed for taxes or the like).


The little extra thing we (and by we I mean Mike) did this week was inspired by a post over at Ana White. Although it is not my wish-list swing bed (you should check it out, so fun!), it is very exciting. What was once just hooks on the wall is now our key basket/sunglasses holder/mike's pocket dump spot. The blue tape is so we can open the drawers till i find some drawer pulls that fit the spot. and the drawer fronts need a coat of paint as well, but we were waiting for the joint compound to dry on the ledges so we could paint all at once.

So this week we did a bit more than paper piles, but it's all for the sake of keeping the spaces clear so the paper doesn't look at home in its piles :)