"Autumn Cleaning"

I've spent the weekend "autumn cleaning" - it just doesn't sound the same as spring cleaning, does it?!

Does anyone else have a room that always seems to be messy?? Well, actually our whole house is lol, but the spare room / guest room is the worst. It seems to get used as the dumping spot by everyone, especially when we have to quickly tidy the rest of the house! And because it doesn't get much use, it's easy to just turn a blind eye to it's state..

So yesterday I got stuck into it. I did take a before picture - and if I'm brave enough I'll post it once I completely finish the room! I spent most of the day in there, while Billy worked on cleaning his room next door. It's about 90% done and down to the fiddly bits. I unpacked about 4 boxes of books that I'd been given, some were kid's books and went into B's newly tidied bookcase, some I kept, and the rest I'll be giving away on Freecycle. I also unpacked boxes where "stuff" had been stashed (mainly by the boy!) that he'd completely forgotten about. Yes, I know he has too much stuff...

Today I concentrated on sorting out our big bookcase - sorting out the homeschooling books, putting some aside to give away that he'd outgrown, and packing some away until he needs them. I organised the rest by subject so I can find things easier. I also cleaned out the gardening books & magazines that were in there. It looks much tidier now (trust me!), and there is room to store more of my homeschool planning folders. (The top of it holds various bits of cardboard, crepe paper etc that needs to lay flat-ish, and in front of the bookcase are the library bags ready to pack with returns. I really need some more bookends so that the books stand upright! I know my house will never win any Home Beautiful awards!)


From there, I moved onto the "games" cupboard - sorted the maths, science & English games & manipulatives so they can be more easily accessed. It's not quite finished either - I ran out of energy!

Tonight I tidied up my desk so that I can "think". Again, it's not tidy compared to some that I've seen, but it is for me! The lefthand side holds the calendar that I use to record our schoolwork, and my paid work hours. The righthand side has my to-do notebook, folders of current paid work and school work, plus various office bits & pieces. I love this desk - I got it second-hand in about 1988. It's solid wood with a glass top, weighs a ton, and needs a proper restore, but I still love it!



So still a bit to do, but what I've done should make life more organised. Stay tuned for updates on the rest - and feel free to hassle me so I do get it done!! It does seem though like I get one area organised while the rest of the house goes to pot!