apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

yes, the liquor cabinet (what's new? actually, that's the one thing on hand there's normally just one pristine bottle of).
actually i'm kidding, had just one drink in consolation over a cancelled upholstery class, for the evening, so i'm back home sorting thru boxes of paper pile up.

I had a massive de-cluttering this weekend:) Mainly I put all of my decorations/seasonal items into storage thus making room in my closets for items that should've been in there in the first place. Now my small apartment doesn't look nearly as cramped and cluttered as it use to. I figure if I get the bug/urge a couple of more times I will have finally gotten rid of misc. items I have been keeping since college. Which right now I just can't bring myself to let go.
All in all a very productive house cleaning weekend and I'm still smiling about how much I got rid of:):)

Congratulations, Sarah!

We did so many rounds of decluttering before we reached our current state... I still remember the feeling of triumph when we emptied out the storage locker in the basement and gave notice that we no longer needed to rent it.

(I'm not against basement storage lockers, but we had been using ours to hang fire on decisions about stuff.)

Tonight, I shredded one grocery bag of old receipts, checks, etc. Threw an additional bag of paper away. Moved more paintings into the art pile. And gathered scattered magazines into a pile. (Are magazines and t-shirts the devil's spawn?

go Sarah!
i'd hire some one to help me if i could afford it, so: does anyone feel the pro organizer market is glutted?

ebrown,
i must say (since this seems to be the only way to) thank u for the roses + yr blog!!
i grew up in santa rosa, aftr chicago.
wound up here in noe valley, aftr tendrloin + hayes valley, below my most ghetto neighbors yet: the african red sunflowers are the one thing my upstairs neighbors didn't rip out of our garden (destroyed in retaliation to my reqests, the second one more sarcastic, asking them to stop scuzzing outside our door w/ milkshake, then eggs and gum) maybe bcuz they haven't bloomed yet.
while procratstinating i must have taken 30 cat pics (of our 3 sunbathers) today.

so in noe calley, i must sing the praises of "pickled hutch antiques" (which is adding a modern/mid c room) which may be worth the trip (b4 dinner or a drink @ 29th + san jose's "the front porch" (barbadian food, yummy, new).
ok, cluttered post, but hey whynot on a quiet thread?

oh boy have i been decluttering. if we recall last weeks' episode i'm downsizing from a 3 bedroom home in philly and moving to the bay area in a few months. planning on renting a studio or 1 bedroom so i had to be fearless and can't believe the freedom i feel in getting rid of 25 yrs of stuff. my friends are circling like vultures since i'm giving away most of my furniture. just bringing my beautiful room and board sofa; a bed; 3 oak dressers and a few bits of mccoy pottery and all my framed photographs. victoria by any chance do you know of any apartments coming available in nov or dec in your lovely building. or at least a contact person i would soo appreciate it. we could communicate on your blog if you do. again thanks to all for neighborhood info a while back.

Not just magazines and t-shirts, but also logo-emblazoned coffee mugs -- all are the devil's spawn.

Oh, and let's not forget award plaques/trophies. When I helped run a series of college competitive speech tournaments, I would regularly suggest that instead of giving trophies, we should give a line of dinnerware (large plates for higher awards, saucer if you're the sixth-place finalist, etc.) so that the better speakers would leave college with a trousseau of nice china, rather than with clutter.

Not much decluttering around here - we did that before we moved. My daily struggle is to keep it from coming back. (Devil's spawn = pens and pencils. Where do they keep coming from?)

We have a social worker coming next week to inspect our house for our upcoming adoption. My free time is being spent trying to make my home say things like - nurturing, safe, fun, clean but not too clean, perfect but not too perfect, etc. Any thoughts?

Wende, I like your idea for trophy's I so would've been into getting something like that instead of the usual:)

Well now I think I have gone I decluttered too much, I can't find anything and fear for the worst. Pseudo small businees owner and as anyone else out there who is will know quarterlies are coming up for taxes and I cannot for the life of me find all that info!!!!! I am hopig to uncover it tonight but just can't think where I put it at, the mind is a blank:(

Good luck Amy with your social worker next week, I can't think of any good tips but I will be sending positive vibes your way.

Sarah, I feel for you! It's been six years since I did consulting full-time (ah! dot-boom! money scattered on the sidewalks!), and I still feel ill at the thought of doing monthly invoices and quarterly estimated taxes. (Oddly, I'm perfectly happy doing other people's bookkeeping, just loathe doing my own.)

Amy, what I remember from my parents' home study when they adopted my sisters (I was 20-ish) is that the social worker is looking for basic hygiene stuff. Is the place clean? Is there somewhere for the child to sleep? Is it free from major hazards such as loaded guns and uncaged boa constrictors? Do you go shrieking berserk if a mote of dust hits the white carpet? That sort of thing. What we've seen of your place is BEAUTIFUL.

Happy news, I got home last night frantically searched random hiding places and then low and behold my boyfriend found what I was looking for in the nightstand!!! I am such an idiot I of course then remembered that is where I have stashed all my important papers etc. Hopefully I won't forget that again:)

orange ed,
Thanks for the kudos. I love flowers, and sunflowers and roses are my two most favorite. My weekdays are so hectic that I try to do most of my errands on the weekend and on foot, if possible. That's when I take most of my photos: flowers, cloudscapes, cats, kids.

if you like murals...
maybe they're not rasterbator-y, but monthly, modplus will attempt to post some of the best of Balmy Alley (as the murals appeal to our running themes at least),
which currently seem to include action silhouettes + noble beasts...
full artist credits next week/or shall improve next time!
thnx,
o.e.

ps
also next week in modplus,
hopefully, Almodovar film series (Castro theater + othr cities, b4 they're DVD'd again) interiors
highlites...favorites, anyone?
pss
Modmom fans:
let's send support

Sarah,
If you don't have alot of paper stuff, I use to put my quarterly tax paperwork in the vertical, stand up file (metal wire, or plastic) and either set near the desk or file cabinet, ready to use. Ally

Speaking of decluttering...

Is there an alternative to Craigslist for getting rid of large furniture?

7 years ago I seem to recall a consignment shop in San Mateo that took furniture... I'm not sure I want to deal with scheduling visits/pick-up times with prospective buyers and we need to get rid of several large pieces (large sofa, ottoman, arm chair, three tables, etc).

My whole building is de-cluttering and next weekend we're having a multi-multi-family yard sale. Sunday, 9/24 9am to ???. Come on by and get some of our clutter! Buchanan between Broadway & Pacific.

Should be some great stuff!

victoria wish i could be there. i'll take some of your beautiful stuff. how about the fabulous copper fireplace. well my house goes on the market wednesday and soon i'll be in your city by the bay. have fun at your yard sale, i've had two very successful ones here. i loved it. it's like 'i'm done with this object now you may enjoy it....' maybe my friends in the area will stop by and say hey. good luck.

Can you tell me where I can find cofee mugs which have inspirational quote on it? I've seen on the tv but never find in the store.

thank u