Double 7 – Thursday!

We are at day 4 of my 7 day thing,

I haven’t ever heard about a home that doesn’t have a junk drawer or two, and this house is no exception 😉  I have more than one…

Today’s task; declutter my living room catch all.

Here it is in all it’s glory – yeah, I know, not pretty!

FROM THIS

Well.. I might as well get on with it – hang in there, folks – I’m going in!

(a hours or so later..)

All done. Oh, that’s looking a little better now, isn’t it?

TO THIS

MINUS ALL OF THIS:

2 picture frames
1 diploma from Microsoft
1 calculator
1 remote control
1 notebook
1 lanyard
1 US simcard
1 Micro memory card
6 pens
1 pink marker
2 cd covers
5 umbraco’s
Bunch of paper to toss – count as 2
Bunch of paper to shred – count as 2
1 empty box
7 unused Valentines cards
8 envelopes
15 Ziploc’s and small plastic bags in assorted sizes
2 packs of memo cards for old diarys
10 plastic items
2 journal covers
1 reusable net
1 box of cool looking paper clips – which are horrible to use
(goes to show, just because they are cool don’t mean they are practical)
2 boxes of push pins – leftover from my office days
Bits and pieces – count as 2

 = 

78 items out-the-door!

7 Day tally = 360

Hey! Didn’t I just pass my goal? Nice!
Still have 3 days to go. I wonder what number I’ll end up with 😉

Grand total for 2017 = 1377

Until tomorrow!

Double 7 – Wednesday!

We are at day 3 of my 7 day thing.

Since I started my blog, I have been slowly downsizing my closet. (it seems to be the thing we women do 😉 )

I’ve probably gotten rid of about 50% or so, since I started my declutter thing on this blog in 2014.

Since I left the workforce (soon to be two years ago – my how times fly), I don’t have to dress up for meetings or change from work stuff to everyday wear everyday. These days, I pretty much live in the same type of outfits all the time – jeans, t-shirt and a sweater (weather depending).

Since I changed my diet (for health reasons) last year, I lost about 15 kilos or so. It took quite a while before my weight stabilized, and since it was fluctuating quite a bit there for a while, I only got new pieces of clothing when I absolutely needed something new that fit me (it’s not that fun walking around in clothing that is way, way to big).

I’ve stabilized now.

It’s hard though, to downsize, as I have clothing that are good quality for those special occasion like party’s, Christmas and other meet ups. Even though I only use about 30-40% of my closet on my daily outfits (remember – jeans and t-shirt kinda girl). I still need to keep the other type of outfits around.

Since I happen to be kinda picky about what I wear (even when it’s only jeans and t-shirts), I’m having a hard time finding suitable replacements that fit my current size. Which unfortunately means, I’m still hanging on to a few items to many of my old stuff.

I have not given up hope that I one day will have this beautifully curated minimalist wardrobe… and the only way I’m going to get there is to forever chip away at it.

Which brings me to today’s declutter write-up!

I have found a few more closet items, to say good buy to 😉

8 t-shirts
2 workout tops
3 fleeze
sweatpants
longjohn
2 pars of thick socks
2 sleepwear
2 caps
1 wool jacket
1 sweather
bandana
1 pair of flipflops
1 pair of boots
=
26 items out-the-door!

7 Day tally = 282

Grand total for 2017 = 1299

Guess that is it for today, see ya tomorrow 🙂

Double 7 – Tuesday!

We are at day 2 of my 7 day thing, and today is a pretty easy one.

Earlier this year, I got quite a few used interior magazines for free (which is great, since I have stopped buying my own). I’ve enjoyed reading them, but I’m all done, and I’m ready for them to leave the house.

I piled them all into one of those banana crates/boxes – and looking at the half filled box, I decided I was going to fill it up! (a girl gotta challenge herself 😉 )

So I’ve been adding all sorts to the pile; old magazines, new magazines, manuals, catalogs, travel brochures and my tiny little nemesis – articles I have ripped out of magazines/newspapers etc to keep. I have written about this habit before.

Guess what, I have filled the banana box (woohoo), and there are hardly any magazines left in the house, with the exceptions of a few keepers for a rainy day 😉

I still have a stack of manuals, but they all belong to items I own. So I guess they’ll be sticking around a little bit longer!

I just tallied it all up, and here are the stats:

113 magazines, manuals, travel brochures and catalogs
114 individual articles I have torn out to keep

=

227 items out-the-door!

My 7 day tally  = 256

See.. I caught up, and now I’m ahead 😉

Oh, and my grand total for 2017 = 1273

Until tomorrow!

Double 7 – Monday!

Yesterday I mentioned I would do one more run at getting some of my junk out of the house, before Christmas.

As I meander through my days, there are times I come across items I no longer need or want, as I’m sure we all do. I have gotten into a habit of putting these items into my guestroom, until I get around to actually get the stuff out of the house.

Well my guestroom is “piling” up (well not really.. I could hide it away if I wanted it to… but… ) and it’s time to see some of these items actually leaving the house.

Gotta get ready for Christmas, you know 😉

So here we are – Day 1!

I changed my diet about a year ago (for health reasons), and there are things I no longer eat or use as part of my food preparations. So the other day I went through my food “pantry” (well, just a regular kitchen cabinet, really) and sorted out the stuff I no longer plan to use anytime soon.

I picked this time a year to do this particular declutter task, as one of the organisations I follow, “Hjelp oss å hjelpe, Rogaland” (help us to help, Rogaland) are gathering food to help people out, especially over Christmas. B took a look at his place as well and found a couple of things.

In addition to our own stuff, we did a miniature shopping “spree”, and got some Christmas cookies, candy and other more Christmas’y dry goods from the store. We wanted to add a little extra to the mix. We will get them some more a little closer to Christmas, stuff like meat and other perishables.

In addition to food, they have also asked for things like small gifts and wrapping paper. So I did a quick rummaging through the house and found a couple of unopened rolls of Christmas wrapping paper.

We just delivered it all at one of the collecting point in my neighborhood.

I love it when there is a win, win, win situation like this.

I get stuff out of the house, we get to contribute, and someone out there might get a little of the help they need.

Todays tally!

15 food related items (the extras were B’s so they aren’t really mine to count 😉 )

14 gift wrapping items; paper, gift bag, tags. Christmas cards and some string to tie it all together with.

I’ll get them some more, including some gifts to hand out, I just need a trip to Ikea first 😉

= 

29 items out the door!

 

SO – I know this isn’t the expected 49 items. But hang in there, I’ll be catching up tomorrow 😉 It’s the total of 343 that counts, you know 😉

See ya tomorrow!

 

 

Double 7 – before the year is over!

I can’t believe how fast this year has gone, November is behind us and we are already a few days into December.

This is the time where the holiday celebrations are soon upon us, and we are busy preparing for them. And most likely the last thing on our minds are working on our declutter endeavors (beside the stuff we need to do to prepare the house for the holidays).

Well not this girl! I’ve decided I need to have one more go at it before Christmas 😉 I need to get some stuff outa here!

So I’m committing to a 7 day declutter run!

Over the next 7 days (starting tomorrow) I will declutter 343 items!

Why 343 you ask?

Well I need a goal, and I started thinking  – 7 items pr day for 7 days, but hey, that would only amount to 49 items out the door… So I though 49 items “a day” would be a much better goal 😉

Which brings us to the 343, as 7 x 7 x 7 = 343 items out the door!

Oh yeah, and just to up the ante, I’ll be throwing one extra task into the mix!

As most of you know, I’ve been really bad at keeping up on the blog this year. And I figured – since I’m committing to 7 days of decluttering, why not commit to do a daily write up of the items leaving the house as well? Then maybe I can get back into the groove of things!

So there you have it – a double goal!

7 days – 343 items out the door – 7 articles on the blog!

Let’s see how I do!

Wish me luck!

A “little” bit of help…

When you last heard from me, I mentioned that we had been working a bit at my stepmoms place as she wanted underfloor heating installed.

My plan was to make a blog-post about it as soon as we were done, but something came up and B and I had to jump on a plane to England to help out my mum (nothing serious.. she just needed a little help). We came home a couple of weeks ago, with a little gift… the flu 😦

Not only had we been infected by someone on the plane… but unfortunately we managed to give it to my mum as well, which she really didn’t need.. poor girl 😦

It’s taken a while, and I’m still sniffling like crazy.. but at last.. I’m back on the computer, so I thought it was time for that blog post about the work we have been doing 😉

My stepmom lives in a building with several condominiums, it’s an older building and when it was built, it was not common to install heating cables in the floors. Today however, underfloor heating is pretty much the norm here in Norway (it gets cold you know 😉 )

As my stepmom was getting tired of freezing here little feet off, she decided she wanted to have underfloor heating installed.

She figured the smart way to handle that project, was to give the task to me, and then jump on a plane to Spain for the fall season 😉

It wasn’t really a difficult project as it mostly meant organizing people to come over to do the work. But even so, it turns out B and I spent a lot of hours on this.

So lets get on with it shall we?

As the main part of the house was being “torn up”, we had to pack everything away into one bedroom. I feel sooooo sorry for that bedroom, we filled it to the brink, and you could hardly get in the door, by the time we had emptied the living room/dining room/kitchen area. It took us two days to empty it all (yeah.. we (read: me) wear out easy).

 

As the engineered wood floors she had before was only about three years old, our plan was to reuse the flooring if possible.

When we had it all cleared and ready, the hardwood floor people came over to remove the old flooring. To make sure we kept the budged, B and I helped as much as we could. It was kinda cool, because I learned a thing or two about removing old flooring your want to keep. And, guess what.. we managed to salvage all of the floor.

Turned out the were old linoleum underneath, which B and I tore out on our own…. and oh boy… was it dusty… but sooooo much fun 😉

When it was all torn up, we found that the concrete floor underneath it all, wasn’t all that even 😦  After a bit of discussion with the electrician and the floor people, we concluded that the only way the end result would be half decent, was to have the floor leveled. Which happily was something the floorers could help us do.

They took of to get their floor leveling gear, while B and I got rid of the old linoleum at the recycle plant. And then met back up a couple of hours later.

I helped with priming the floor while B helped carry all the bags of self leveling compound/concrete (yeah.. heavy work.. which I was staying well away from 😉 )

Day four was dedicated to mixing and leveling the floor. We helped with the mixing of concrete, but left the leveling to the experts.

Day five was a follow up day to level off the last bits and pieces.. and then all we could do for a few days was to leave it all to dry.

 

I am so impressed with the products they have today.  They give you the opportunity to add heating to the floors without having to put down heavy cables.

The electricians needed only one day, first they put down some underfloor mats (0,6mm) that keeps the heat from going into the concrete below (the green you see). Then they added the super thin underfloor heating film which is only a few millimeters thick. On top they put a thin layer of plastic, and then it was time to put the wooden floors back in.

After the floor was all done, the electrician came back to test that all was OK with the floor, and to finish the rest of his work. (yeah we had a little list for him 😉 )

And then it was time.. to clean it all up and put the house back together again!

Funny thing.. it almost took us longer to put it back together again, that it took to take it apart..  strange how that is 😉

So now it’s back as good as we can get it… I’m sure my stepmom has to rearrange a book or two… but hey… we gotta leave a little for her to do.. wouldn’t you say?

Now the kicker… when you walk in today it looks exactly the way it did a few months back.. the only difference is an tiny thermostat on the wall.  Good thing I’m adding some pictures here, it’s the only proof we’ve been up to anything at all, lol 🙂

 

Back in the groove of things!

It’s been a while… I know, one of these days you’ll get sick of hearing me say this, I’m sure.

With my head playing up like it’s been doing the last few months, I’ve learned that I have to pace myself when doing things.

Even though you haven’t heard from me in a while, it doesn’t mean that B and I haven’t been up to anything 😉

We have been a little busy actually! Mostly doing other people’s stuff.

This is a quick recap of what we have been up to since you heard from me last:

  • I’ve been dealing with insurance stuff for my step-mum, after a young man hit her car and ran away without leaving a note (thankfully there was a witness).
  • We have been flexing our handyman skills at a friends place, installing a couple of ceiling lamps, changing door handles and oiling up a couple of doors and swapping out some reeeaaaallly rusted outdoor ventilation covers.
  • We have helped my neighbor with moving some clothing cabinets, installing a couple of bunk-beds and a desk. Mostly just helped her set up her daughters room so it’s easier for them to share a room and still have a private corner.
  • My stepmom wants heated floor in her condominium. This task has turned out to be a bit more work than we though.. and deserves a blog-post of it’s own 😉
  • I’ve been dealing with a lot of admin stuff related to the row of townhouses I belong to (which is still an ongoing task, not quite settled, yet)

Have we done anything for us?

Well yes, as a matter of fact… we have.

You might remember from earlier this spring that we built a patio at a friends house? From that job there was some leftover decking material.

I’ve had a couple of plans for those leftovers, among them I wanted to build a “big” planter/storage box. So about a week ago, we kinda finished that box 🙂 It’s on wheels so it’s easy to move around (it would be impossible without wheels, as it’s large enough that you would need three super strong men to move it, if it is ever filled with soil and plants).  I will be using it as a combination planting table and storage box for material, like pots, mulch, sand etc.

As I’m planning on using it as a storage box and as a planting table, I need to add a lid at some stage. A lid with not only keep everything inside dry, but also give me a surface to use as a table. I haven’t quite figured out what I want make the lid from yet. I’m thinking either treated plywood, or maybe try to make a lid with the leftover decking. When it’s done I’ll show you, but for now you can see how the box looks today. I’m really happy with how it turned out  😉

So what about decluttering?

You would think that with all the stuff going on for everyone else, that I took a declutter break! And in a way you would be right 😉

My decluttering has been a little on and off since you last heard from me. A little here, a little there….

Some of it has made it out of the house.. I’ve got pictures 😉

But some are still hanging around in my catch-all room (guestroom) – gotta take pictures for the blog and all, you know 😉

So what has actually made it out of the house?

1 concrete side-table – sold today
I box filled with decking cutoffs
49 old no longer usable decking boards
(the rest  of the stuff in the car is old flooring from step mums place.. so that’s not mine to count 😉 )
21 books

Out-the-door = 72 items

Which brings my grand total for 2017 to 1017 🙂 

 

Guess this is it, for now! You should be all caught up.. kinda 😉 So hang tight.. and I’ll see you soon!

21:19-21 – The end… finally!

Well, I’m finally here, at the end of my 21 day declutter challenge. Yeah I know, a shocker isn’t it!

How on earth could I have known, when I started my 21 day challenge in January, that it would take me 8 months to kick this “challenge” out of the park.  It’s quite ridiculously, how this has gone on and on and on… 😉

But happily.. it’s all over, finally!!! And since I’m sticking to my current 3 day write-ups, you get all the dirt in one go!

 

As I have mentioned a few times before, I tend to use my guest room as my catch all when I declutter.
This is just a small portion to show how crazy it can get.A mess, I know, why don’t I clean it up for you, a little 😉

 

Day 19 – Stuff,

I used to have an tiny apartment/condominium in town before I moved out to where I am now, and in my bedroom I had a wall decorated with odd items from around the world.

Since I moved to my current home, I haven’t kept up my wall of weird. And today I’m sending off among other things, two of the last reminiscences of that wall, my wooden masks.

2 wooden masks (I’ve kept my favorite one.. you never know, I might start another wall 😉 )
1 humidifier – it kept spitting water all over my floor 😦
1 wine bottle cooler
1 bathroom rug
1 green golf mat (for indoor practice)
3 candles
1 silver plate

= 10 items 

 

Day 20 – stuff,

It’s funny what pops up when you go through your stuff, this all… serves no purpose anymore.

A couple of things like the cards and the dog show medals, are sentimental items. But it’s time.  I took a picture of the medals and I have cards that means more to me from the same people.

The rest? That’s just junk… now!

Some cards, count as 5
1 toiletry bag
1 box of letters and numbers for crafts
1 green box
3 dog show medals
1 clipboard
Bunch of random junk, count as 20
8 sets of post-it notes
Bunch of random papers, count as 5
1 bag of shower curtain holders
3 plastic bottles
1 box of clothing wax
3 packs of hooks
1 Vin’in bag (when you want to travel with bottles)
1 pouch of rocks
1 bottle of hairspray
1 alarm clock
1 pump
Bunch of plastic, count as 3
Medical and sport items, count as 7
2 storage nets

= 70 items

 

Day 21 – and more stuff 😉

And as we weren’t’ done with random stuff… here is some more for you 😉

 


20 hangers
2  – 3D puzzles (really cool puzzles that I have done several times over the last 25 years)
3 chargers (2 broken, one with UK plug)
1 lantern for candles
1 blue box
1 very worn out kitchen aid blender (I had to get a new one)
2 pictures with frame

= 30 items

I’m sure there were stuff I missed counting in the chaos, and the numbers should really be more, but I’m sticking with this for my last three days!

Day 19, 20 and 21 = 110 items

Which brings my new grand total for 2017 to 945 🙂 

 

PS… there are actually more that has gone out the house, but (in the spirit of keeping it short and sweet) that will have to wait for another day.

Oh, yeah.. and one of my TV channels are having a Star Trek movie run every night this week, and today’s is starting in a few minutes… I’m sure you all understand…  😉

 

21:16-18 We are moving on!

I’m rolling up the last few days of my 21 day declutter challenge, I kinda liked the three day write-up so here is part two 😉

 

Day 16 – Flower decoration

I used to have a habit of buying single flowers like a single rose or a tulip or two, and I would take that single flower and put it in a vase with a little bit of decoration. To bling it up, so to speak.

Over the years I’ve gotten out of this habit for all sorts of reasons, and I’ve been working on downsizing my flower decorating box since I started this blog. There really isn’t a good reason why I should hold on to it all.

As with everything else, a little here a little there, and eventually I’ll get there and today another handful is ready to leave the house.

Flower decoration pieces
Bunch of ribbons of silver tread – count as 3 as there are three different types of threads
2 rolls of pink and green tread
I bag of small rock
5 small pink/purple bulbs??

= 11 items 

 

Day 17 – Golf and…

I haven’t been on the golf course (to play) for almost 8 years now. I didn’t play much when I was in the US and within a year from coming home from Houston my health issues started.  You might say I have kinda quit the whole thing. Even so… I’m not quite ready to get rid of my golf clubs (it’s a mental thing.. I’m not ready to give up the idea I one day will be able to get back to swinging some clubs) but hoarding a bunch off goofballs .. well that’s just silly now.

These last few years, I have given away a lot of golf balls to friends (I had a drawer full). But I think it’s time to use that drawer for something else. A week ago, I packed a few balls away in my golf bag, the rest, I took down to my local golf course and offered them to the first person I saw. And yep, you’ve guessed it, she took them all 🙂

20 packs + 5 single (65 golf balls) – count as 25
1 glove
1 golf cap

= 27 items

Day 18 – More sports items

In addition to the golf stuff, I went ahead and cleared that drawer all together of sport items (with the exception of my diving mask and snorkel) and here is the rest of the stuff from the picture above.

2 zumba whatchamacallit
1 bottle of diving glass defogger
1 rock climber talcum bag
1 tube lotion to be used on cycling shorts/pants (no chafing)

= 5  items

 

In the spirit of keeping this short and simple, this is it for today!

Before I go… here is my yearly tally!

Day 16, 17 and 18 = 43 items, which brings my new grand total for 2017 to 835

 

21:13-15 Let’s get on with it, shall we?

We are back to my 21 day declutter challenge…. about time you will say.. and I do agree 😉 Every time I have found a bit of energy the last week or so, I have gone on very tiny declutter sprees around the house. As usual I have been piling the stuff in my guestroom, to be arranged and photoed at some future date.

Well today is as good a day as any, it’s time to get on with it!

 

 

DAY 13 – Outdoor storage room attached to house.. (not a garage because I don’t have one)

Since I don’t have a garage, everything goes into my tiny storage room. It’s the place I store my car tires, paint, bike, roller-blades, garden tools, plant tools, some outdoor furniture, all my electrical and hand tools and all the other nuts and bolts you need when you have a home and are essentially a “guy” when it comes to tools 😉

And like any other “garage”, my storage/shed gets full.. and I have to clear a little out, so I at least can get into the space without tripping over buckets (which I do a lot) 😉

Here’s the dirt on whats leaving this time!

2 tanks – for my old  gas grill that I don’t have anymore – I gave these to a friend – sorry no picture
1 kitchen cabinet door (cut into three pieces – recycle plant swap house wouldn’t take it, and it only fit the bins in pieces)
2 foam boxes
1 battery drill (more or less broken, thankfully I have more 😉 )
10 tins of paint and paint related items
1 empty fertilizer bucket
8 pieces of steel from my old kitchen counter edge

= 25  items

 

Day 14 – Bathroom

I have never been one to spend a lot of time in the bathroom, as I’m pretty much a no frills person regarding products I use. The last couple of years I mostly blend my own oils, use makeup only once or twice a year, and don’t use much in the name of soaps, shampoos and conditioners. I’ve been downsizing my bathroom stuff quite a bit, but still there are things that linger (for some reason or another)…

28 items of stuff – not pictured
4 bottles with various lotions
1  small perfume bottle
2 tins of lip and hair balm
1 box of pure moist contact lens solution
1 lip balm
1 nail clipper
1 tube cleanser
1 tube moisturizer
1 box of makeup
3 random items

= 44 items

 

Day 15 – Kitchen

So here we re again with the kitchen!  I don’t know what it is about kitchens, but items seem to accumulate, regardless of how often you declutter the space. I have no number for how many times I’ve gone through this place, and there are still more stuff that pops out of the woodwork! Strange that, lol

3 bottles
5 glass containers
1 knife
2 pray ops… spray bottles
Random stuff – count as 5

= 16 items

 

I think this concludes today’s post!

I’m trying to keep it short and sweet, and hopefully I’ll get the 21 days over and done with within the week 😉

But first before I go… gotta do the yearly tally!

Day 13, 14 and 15 = 85 items, which brings my grand total for 2017 to 792

🙂