The holidays are coming? *shudder*

I think I'll just hide my head in the sand until January.

Would building an outdoor pergola from re-purposed or used materials count? I'm patiently waiting for the guy who does remodeling jobs for me to come up with the flooring he says he can get from an old deck. It's being torn out by Habitat for Humanity somewhere. But I've been waiting since September 1st and I'm getting antsy. I had intended to level the area where it will sit myself but I have to know how he wants to place the skids. If it gets completed by Nov. 18th, I'll set up tea there. Later maybe hang a garland (grapevine?) for TG, and a wreath or two for Xmas.

Oh, and I do want to paint my kitchen ceiling a darker shade of blue than is currently on there. I'm just not a pastel type person and altho I like the sky blue, I think a tad darker will make the room more comfy and blend with the rest of the warm colors of the house.

I am going to organize the unfinished area of my basement. I do this every once in a while. It's getting more and more difficult for me to organize things down there, as I don't recognize the many new things DH bought for his workshop and the fish tanks. If he asks me, where did you move *** to? I will reply, what does it look like? LOL.

Oops. I went off topic by mistake. I spoke of projects not organization. My org challenge should be to purge my garage - I was suppose to do that this summer. Most of the items in there aren't even worthy of a garage sale or Goodwill.

Schoolhouse- You can do both, if you want...and I'd like to see pictures of your pergola, if your help shows up in time to finish, this fall! Sounds nice! :)

I need to paint my kitchen, too. Mom still has 'our' ladder (okay, her ladder) but I'm hoping to borrow it next week. Meantime, lots of gardening to do, before the big freeze!

Cookie- Mine is the same way. I make a pile and have him go through the stuff I'm not sure about...this year I'm helping him and we seem to be ending up with more donations. I like it :)

Marti- LOL! My mom says the same thing every year..."I'm not ready!" It's become a bit of a joke and my brother and I will tell her how many days until Christmas.

BTW...2 months and 9 days until Christmas!!!

This post was edited by lavender_lass on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 19:40

Hmmm, where to start!? I am in and will sit down tomorrow to formulate a plan. :)

I have chosen my bedroom, out of necessity as it has been empty for the last 3 weeks while we have worked on it.

With dh gone this week, I have added an outlet onto a circuit to wall mount the tv, and fixed the wall. Installed an antenna in the attic and ran the coax through the wall to the tv location, and fixed the wall. Painted the ceiling twice because I didn't like the first color dh brought home. Painted the walls 3 coats because I didn't like the color dh brought home (still not wild about it, but since I picked it this time I'm going to pretend I love it). Fixed cracks over 3 doors and the window. Cut the caulk out around the window and found that condensation had rotted out sheetrock on one side, so I replaced a piece of that. Replaced the ceiling fan.

I have decided that while home ownership is better than renting, it's downright hard work.

I still have to paint and replace some baseboard, clean the mini blinds that I am keeping for light control, clean and put up the curtains, install the wall mount and hang the tv, and move all the furniture back in.

And since our closet was emptied too, I've been trying on a couple of pieces of clothing every day before putting them back in the closet. I've culled out some pieces I'll never wear again, and put some tight fitting favorites into a closet in another bedroom.

May I join too, please =). I especially enjoy a lovely chat over tea!

Just finished the Guest Room last week before my folks came to visit. It's amazing how much work goes into a simple 10x10 box LoL. At least all of the moving boxes for that room are gone... Found some darling curtains left by the OOHs (original owners heirs), washed & pressed them and TaDa, proudly hung. Do want to add a room darkening shade as Mom said too much light came in at night.

Not sure if it's too much of an elephant to eat right before Holidays; refreshing the 20x11 Whatchamacallit Room. It's the secondary entry, coming in from the carport; most everyone uses that door who visits. Right now it's scattered with moving boxes, DH's power tools with flotsam & jetsam, and exercise equipment.

Perhaps reboxing & moving some of DH's things into the Potting Cottage? Holding a "Box Sale" (we used plastic bins for a lot of long-term storage & moving)? Putting on a "Grinch" costume and serving the last tin of "Who Hash"?

O_o just realised I have no idea where any of the Holiday boxes are! They're labeled so that's a good thing. I hope.

LOL I thought you were going to say you are going to declutter by handing it out at Halloween.

Marti8A, wonder if Trick or Treaters would take the bins if I covered them in black crepe paper & filled them with pink packing peanuts to look like coffins HaHa

At least got a few more things organised, moved to the Potting Cottage this morning. Next up hanging the hall cupboard by the door =).

ETA Oh yes...the wall organiser, too...somewhere other than the kitchen counter for junk mail & bills LoL

This post was edited by Locrian on Fri, Oct 25, 13 at 13:15

That's a thought! Too bad we don't have trick or treaters, I could hand out old bricks covered with cement. lol

Bumping this up so people can see it :)

Locrian, I'd like to see a picture of your guest room if you can post one. I'm always looking for ways to make my 10x10 boxes look inviting.

Marti8A, it's very basic guest room right now. Two twin beds, two end tables, one narrow piano bench as a luggage bench. No decorations. Operative word is "yet"... I can start a new thread if you're interested =). All of the rooms are smaller here and I'm having fun figuring out things.

***
Big problem is getting re-motivated with the Whatchamacallit Room. Aargh! Fall/Winter is NOT my season for physically demanding activity.

At least more of the "things not needed right away" bins are sorted & packed away in the Potting Cottage. Now I have to get DH to agree to consider most of that is "not needed even in the future". Joys of a Collector as spouse married to a Purger.

Is today The Tea Day?

I got a lot done during the past weekend. Why? Because we suddenly got a buyer for our house (after months of no showings), and we need to move out in two weeks, to a 40% smaller house!

Anyway, husband and I cleaned out 70% of the basement. Husband did two recycling runs to get rid of pallets we've accumulated over the years.

Husband also packed 90% of the books, and moved those boxes to the garage. I cleaned out 4 closets, and still have 1 more to go.

Small things that we don't want to keep but are too good to throw away (games, clothing, bedding, small electronics, small appliances) are mostly bagged. We are going to drop them off at Goodwill.

We also sold several big items on CraigsList (old bed, old TV, old couch, old coffee table, etc), so we don't have to move them again with us.

It was an extremely busy but fruitful weekend. :)

This post was edited by ILoveCookie on Mon, Nov 18, 13 at 17:29

Congratulations ILoveCookie! Both on the house and the organizing.

I've been going through clothing and have gotten rid of a 30 gallon bag of clothes. I think all my clothes are going to fit in my closet when I'm done.

Hi, everyone! I am NOT ready, so if you don't mind...I'm moving the tea to next Monday, November 25 :)

Hopefully, I can at least get ready to paint the kitchen by then. We've had tons of paperwork to do this last month, but finally getting through it all and starting the cleaning/organizing phase. Then...time to paint and new floor tile! Very excited to get this done before Christmas. Thanksgiving is at Mom's so I have a little more time to finish.

Congrats to everyone getting so much accomplished. Tea on Monday, November 25 on the Conversations side, starting about 4pm ET. Have a great week!

Just found this, but I recognize so many of you from other forums (schoolhouse, would love to see the darker blue on the ceiling-bet it looks as wonderful as everything you do in your gardens!). I won't be home from school by 4:00, but will check in when I do get home. I have just had the Vietnam Vets pick up some things, but there is so much more to do. I have cleaned out my son's old room to make an extra guest room, but the twin bed, mattress, bedside table, etc. are now sitting in the area outside the room next to the stairs (walkout basement) waiting for him to move them to his even smaller guest bedroom! So, actually, it looks worse here than it did before when I could just close the door.

For me, organization mostly involves purging. Sadly, DH is a hoarder, so my storage options are limited. He has filled the attic, his half of the garage, the basement workroom, and most of the closets and cupboards with his stuff. Thinking it is time for us to move into our own places next door to each other. My home would be organized, spare, and wonderful. His? Hmmm...

:)

Hi, Cyn! Glad you can join us.

Don't forget, tea today on the Conversations side at 4pm ET. Let us know about your progress! Are you still working or done? See you there :)