Controlled (?) Chaos

We're in the middle of a cycle of purging at our house.  When we moved here from an apartment, it seemed like our stuff would never fill the space.  Over time it has grown exponentially, and our home is now threatening to burst at the seams.  Thus, as with all logical creatures, we decided to start culling our possessions in order to ease the pressure on the walls of our abode, and on my straining nerves.

I hate feeling cluttered.  I know that there are those of you reading this who are laughing right now because you've seen the state of my personal space over the years, but really, it is true.  It has gotten more true as I have gotten older.  My preference is for clear spaces and room to walk and move around without knocking things over.  I don't hate THINGS, per se, I just want everything to have a place and to BE in that place.  I don't mind that The Husbeast collects Transformers, as long as they are on the shelves that are designated for them when he's not actively using them or showing them to someone.  I don't mind that we have a ton of books (because really...books!) as long as they're on the shelves when they're not actively being read.  Mementos, knick knacks, tchotchkes, whatever you want to call them, they all have a reason for being around and as long as they bring back good memories and don't get so numerous that they become an indistinguishable blur, I'm all for them.

But when it comes to functional spaces like counters, tables, desks, and so on, well...they need to be clear and ready to be used.  It frustrates me to no end that whenever I clean off our coffee table in the living room, it immediately gathers another load of pelf all over it.  I grit my teeth when I walk into the kitchen and can't find enough space on the counter to make a sandwich or prep dinner.  When things are piled so high on the dresser that there's not even a spot for my deodorant, my day begins with a growl of annoyance.

Recently both The Husbeast and I reached our saturation point and agreed that it was time to start clearing the house of some stuff and making sure that everything remaining has a place to "live" other than simply the last place someone set it down.  So I started working one room at a time, beginning with the game room.  It isn't perfect, there's still the game closet and the paint station to reorganize, but for the most part it is one thousand percent better than it was.  I have been moving to other rooms and beginning to work on them. My goal is to have most of it done before we have our big Thanksgiving shindig.

The thing is, I had forgotten how much worse things get when you are in the process of purging.  When everything gets pulled out of a space to be sorted and checked over, the chaos factor rises amazingly fast.  When that happens it can be difficult to keep the end goal in mind and not freak out over the huge mess that used to be your home.  Right now there are pantry items on the kitchen counters and the dining room table, with more to come as I pull everything out of there over the next couple of days and sort through what we have.  Some things will go to the local food bank if they are still within their dates.  Some things will get thrown out if they are unusable.  Some things will go back in, but they will go back into the pantry in an organized manner.  I have containers to put small items in, and chalkboard labels to write contents on then stick on said containers.  And WOE BETIDE the person who goes into that pantry and just throws anything anywhere on the shelves.  I WILL END THEM!!!!

*ahem*

I mean, the entire household will participate in the concentrated effort to keep the pantry neat and organized from here on out.

After that, there's the breakfast nook, the dining room, the kitchen, the living room, and the Fat Lady Room that all need to be done.  And if I'm REALLY on a roll, I hopefully will be able to get the master suite done before Thanksgiving too.  Then...the hall closet.  I'll need boxes for the hats, more stickers to label said boxes, and we'll need to go through our swords and decide what to do with them.  If we keep them, then they need to be displayed somehow.  I don't want them just to be shoved in a closet somewhere.

I would really like to start 2017 with an organized home, an organized mind, and a plan of attack to make it a blowout year for Fat Lady Foods.

I just have to wade through all of the chaos first.  Wish me luck...I'm going in!