It was about this time last year when I asked my husband to buy The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up for Christmas. I read through the whole book, then went back and began working through it. But I got sidelined somewhere around komono (miscellaneous items).

I was hoping this year that I’d figure out how I work best when it comes to keeping house. My approach has always been quite haphazard, which is something I don’t like about myself, and want to improve. Then I invest a lot of time into trying to find better, more efficient ways of doing things. But ultimately nothing really sticks, nothing big anyway. I’ve made some small inroads, and have gotten rid of a lot of stuff, but it still feels like there’s so much to still get rid of.

Since the year ends soon and my project not long after, I’ve been reflecting a little on what I’ve done this year and want to do next year. I took the book off the shelf because I’m thinking about re-reading it in its entirety, or maybe just going back to where I left off with purging.

When I review the photos I’ve taken of the boxes and bags of donations, I feel pleased but then I wonder why I don’t see more uncluttered space in the house. There are a few spaces which I’ve reorganized for good but I’m still having trouble with upkeep. Those ‘hotspots’ still attract random bunches of stuff. It doesn’t help that the Christmas presents I’ve bought for everyone but Emma are all over the place- I can’t put anything under the tree because I think Pixie will shred everything.

So I’m trying to figure out how to make the most out of the next couple months. I don’t know if I should lay out some specifics or if I should just wing it. Finishing the garage is definitely still on the table, especially since it’s been freakishly warm in NY and Bob is between semesters and willing to help. But I don’t really know what else I want to accomplish.

I did acquire, sort of, another bookshelf.

I say ‘sort of’ because I’ve had this shelf for a while. It was a kitchen cabinet I managed to take off the wall in one piece during demo. It worked well in the attic, but a few months ago Emma decided she needed more doll beds, so I let her have it. She got a large inflatable chair as an early Christmas gift so she returned the shelf, which is good because I need it. I loaned my mom and my mother in law lots of books which recently made their ways back to me, so I needed a place to put them! At some point I’ll make some cosmetic improvements to it. Lately my mind wanders to decorating related projects even though I’ve decided to save those as a reward after I’m done getting rid of more stuff.