Combined, because I didn’t decide that this would become a major project until today… Also, this is all happening in 5 minute increments, because I have the attention span of a flea and I’m a lazy git.
So, when I moved in here, it was already fully furnished. Thanks to some spectacular timing on my part, my stuff got here before the old (oh so very old) bedroom furtinutre could be moved out. This resulted in my furniture ending up all over the upstairs. And one dresser ending up in the bedroom, yet completely blocked by a whole boatload of other stuff immediately, rendering it completely inaccessible. Wonderful.
I decided that one the thing that HAD to be done asap was that the dresser be usable again. Because the other dressers didn’t have enough room in them and I was constantly running out of laundry baskets because I couldn’t get to the dresser to store said clean clothes. Awesome. (I’m really not a clothes horse, it’s just that 95% of my clothing goes in drawers, not on hangers.)
So, the first day was at least clearing a path to the point that I could open said dresser drawers. Relocated one suitcase (after emptying out the various bits of flotsam and jetsam that tend to accumulated on a trip.) Filled at least 4 grocery bags with what I can only describe as crap/junk/bits of paper that come from the paper bunnies. (Cousins of the dust bunnie.) Filled a small plastic tote with things that are not junk, but need to be sorted through and new homes found for them. Emptied yet another laundry basket blocking the way, but simply relocated the clothing to the top of the cedar chest at the end of the bed.
But it was a start.
Day two started with moving the massage mat (for which I cannot locate the power cord, and of course it is a cord that I don’t have 367 of them wandering about – I’m hoping this project will bring that cord back to me.)
THE DRESSER COULD BE OPENED!!!! I decided this dresser would hold pants. Summer to winter, from top to bottom. Then my other dresser could just hold shirts. And the short double dresser along the other wall could hold only workout gear, instead of workout gear and random stuff shoved into it because there was no other drawer space. So, the moving of clothing began. The pants were quickly relocated to the new dresser. As I started to sort out the shirts, I wanted it to go in drawers as follows: sleeveless, short sleeved, long sleeved, then sweathshirts and sweaters. (For being such a slob, I have a few OCD tendencies.) However, the top drawer currently is near overflowing with my knickers. Time to get the highboy out of the guest room and get it in the bedroom. It was specifically bought for knicker storage after all!
OK, so the highboy can go next to the jewelry cabinet to the right of the vanity. Except that there isn’t enough room between the cabinet and the window. Unless I move the two totes of crap that currently reside between the vanity and the cabinet, and move the cabinet over. Shove totes out of the way, recoil in the horror that is the baseboards. Wipe those down, move cabinet. Recoil again in horror at the basebords AND the dustbunnies that have multiplied under the cabinet. Wipe down that section of baseboard and quickly run the vac and vanquish the bunnies.
*Break Time*
Go the guest room to fetch the highboy and discover that it is blocked by multiple boxes and totes, some mine, some belonging to friends that are currently out of country. Crap. Start scooting things here and there and make a path to push the highboy out. Slide it down the hallway, manage to clear yet another path to get it across the bedroom to the wall. Put it in place, get all the tape off it that was holding the drawers closed. (Couldn’t figure out how to get the damn drawers out of it when I moved it.) Put my little touch lamp on top and discover the light is burnt out. Find another bulb, discover that it needs true 3 way bulbs. Make a mental note to check the basement later for 3 way bulbs, unplug it so as not to set the room on fire and take another break.
Back at it again, moving all my underthings to the highboy, with no rhyme or reason other than swimsuits in the top drawer. There will be a massive reorganization of it’s contents soon enough, this is all about making space in the formerly overflowing dresser. Get that done, then get all the existing shirts in the dresser in their proper place. Phone rings announcing that it’s time to go get the dog from the groomers. Debating whether to call it a day or not, but most importantly, must go fetch dog.
After getting the dog and tending to a few other things about the house, like dishes and feeding myself, I’d pretty much decided I was done with the room for the day. Until I went upstairs to change into warmer pants to take the dog for a walk. First, I noticed that there was A LOT more clear space in the room, which was excellent – it’s great to SEE some difference in the room. Unfortunately I also noticed that nearly 1/3 of my bed was covered in clothing from the great rearranging of 2009 that had kicked off earlier. OK, one more session to at least clear the bed so I can sleep and that’s that for the day.
As I settled in for the evening, I realized I would need to split time between the bedroom and the office (also another disaster area, but improved since I did some work on it last week.) I need a place to put my trainer* and it’s as good a spot for it as any – just needs a little more space cleared out. Just have to figure out the logistics of getting the bike upstairs.
*A stand for a bike so you can ride indoors when the weather is crappy. I usually go to the gym for it, but because the gym is a bit of a ways off, I always make it a bike/swim combo to make it worth the trip. The pool is closed for the next week starting tomorrow and it’s still not warm enough for riding outside…