De-Cluttering - Week 7 - Airing Out the Linen

This is not the project I had planned for this week, but the other one has been postponed until I get a chance to purchase what I think will be a solution to a tangled mess.   Instead I cleaned out something that was over stuffed.  The linen closet.

As you can see, it was filled to the brim.  Not only is this messy, but there is simply not enough air circulation in there. If I don't use something for a while, then it gets a musty smell and is no good to me when I want it. 

I took everything off these three shelves.  Sorting through I found things I could throw out, like old sheets and pillow cases that were worn thin, or stained and yellowed dresser scarves that have long since been replaced.

I found things I can give away, like baby blankets, pot holders and cushion covers that are too small for any cushions now in the house.  I even found some sewing patterns in there. All that stuff can go find a new home at one of the local churches, where they sell used goods to raise a bit of money.  I have a big bag of books for them too, but at least those were not in the linen closet. 

I found some old curtains that are still in good shape, but I'll hang onto them for a few more months as my oldest son is moving and they may fit some of his new windows.  If not, well, they are not going back in that linen closet, that's for sure!

There were also a few other things in there that need to be stored in more appropriate places.  Some of it is beach stuff, so that can go to the basement for now. That's an ever popular storage spot that will also need to be reorganized....but not until the weather is considerably warmer than it is now.  A stack of tea towels was also hiding out in the linen closet. I took them to the kitchen, but that just pointed out that the kitchen drawer where they should be is something else that needs to be weeded out.  That's probably why they landed in the linen closet in the first place, but it was so long ago, I had forgotten that I put them there.

I admit there are toys stored in the bottom, for easy access by my grandsons when they visit, and there is also another shelf above all this that holds vases and other knickknacks. I'll tackle that some other day.  I think you'll agree that I accomplished what I set out to do on this particular chore. 

I noticed that cupboard is overdue for a bit of fresh paint though, so I'll try to be more prepared to take care of that job next time I clear it out.  Actually, I bet most of the cupboards could stand a new paint job.  Ha.  That would mean the closet clutter would be all over the place for an extra day or so.  It will take some convincing to get me to do that then. Maybe I'll have to settle for tidy. What do you think?
 

Sorting Out Electronic Clutter

This week I got a new computer, but other than give it a test run, I'm not really on it yet.  I have year end for the business to do first. The records for that are still on the old machine and since I'm not sure yet that the program will even run on the new one, I figured I better not try to move things at this point.   I also had to do a lot of weeding and juggling of files in preparation for the move to the new machine. Yes, electronic files can get cluttered too.  I know that I still have a lot of files saved on my external hard drive that should likely be pitched, but I'll just have to add that to the growing list of things that need to be de-cluttered around here. I'm glad this is meant to be a year long project, as I have found that clutter grows in new places when you are busy cleaning it out of somewhere else.

My new computer is a Windows 7 machine, and sits flat on my desktop, instead of standing tall and proud like all my previous towers. That means, since the monitor can sit on top of it, I will have a lot more space on my desk ... at least until the usual piles start to grow.  No, no, no .... I need another new resolution!  Not only am I not going to print off any more recipes (that's a habit I've been working hard to break this week), I also vow not to let my desk accumulate piles of paper. It must all be filed in it's proper place on a regular basis.

Now, that may mean I will have to create some proper places.  Until recently I had an old monitor that I could fit a shelving unit over.  It had little cubby holes down the sides where I stored certain types of things, and there was a slotted unit on top where I could file various papers that either had to be dealt with or needed to be held for one reason or another.  Then my monitor died and my hubby gave me the flat screen he had purchased for me earlier in the year. I had turned it down at the time as I knew it would interfere with the filing and storage system I'd had for years.  Perhaps with all this extra room I will be able to have some sort of file box with in and out baskets, or something.  I hope I get that sorted out soon.  With all the shoving around and rearranging that's been going on in here lately, I managed to mail off some paperwork this week, without some of the needed forms included.  Nothing is where it usually is, so it was really easy to not immediately see what needed to be included.

Meanwhile, my printer has also died, and I'm totally lost without that. I tried networking to my hubby's, but didn't succeed.  He then moved his over to my desk, as I need one much more often than he does. My old computer and his printer don't seem to play well together so I still don't have the year end report printed off.  I never had a compatibility problem with a printer before. Hubby seems to think it's my firewall that's preventing it from printing.

Then I won a $100 gift card in a contest from Subway.  In order to claim my prize, I had to print some forms and sign them, and then scan them and send them back.  But as I said, the printers wouldn't cooperate. Then I discovered that the old computer didn't have anything on it that would even open the file I was supposed to print. Neither did my hubby's computer but the new one had the needed software. So we hooked up the working printer to the new computer, and found that it wouldn't work on it either.  After a bit of messing around, and a computer search for assistance, it was discovered that hubby's printer would work on the Win7 machine if he downloaded Windows Vista drivers for it. I never would have thought of that! The contest rules state that they are not responsible for computer problems for equipment failures that may cause the required forms to not be filed with them on time.  I have to wonder if that is meant to eliminate some of the winners, as it certainly hasn't been easy.  If you wave money or food in front to me though, I'm usually motivated.

While I still don't have the year end reports printed, and am starting to wonder if a new printer would even solve that, I did at least get my desk cleaned off. The old computer tower is still on the desk until I get that task done though.  The photo pointed out to me that apparently there is a clutter of envelopes hiding back in the corner under the desk.  Cleaning those out will likely be the easiest thing I've done all week.