One Thing Leads to Another

The time has come…we are having our kitchen remodeled!

Well, remodeled isn’t actually the best word since we don’t have much to remodel. I think of it as starting from scratch since we’ll be adding cabinets and counters, and modern conveniences like a dishwasher and disposal.

Since we won’t have use of the kitchen for many weeks, we will set up a temporary kitchen in our dining room with the fridge, microware, and crockpot. Of course, this meant that we’ve had to move things around in the dining room to make it function as a kitchen. We now have metal shelves set up, ready to hold our pantry supplies and some basic dishes. My daughter’s art table has been relocated upstairs, and the sideboard goes into the attic.

Ah, the attic. So to make room in the attic for the sideboard and all the boxes of kitchen things we won’t use during the remodel, we had to put away all those things that hadn’t found their way back to where they belong. Even though I go through things in the attic once or twice a year, they seem to multiply after I shut the door. So my other tactic has been to purge, purge, purge along the way.

And just so no floor in our house goes untouched, the kitchen project of course affects the basement, where the contractors will need to store things and come in and out. My husband has been amazing in this area, leaving no corner untouched. Screens that don’t match any of our windows – gone! Broken wood from our porch repair – gone!

I know firsthand that moving stuff from one room to another inevitably means something else gets moved or turned upside down.

If you are facing a big organization project (home remodel, turning an office into a baby’s room) don’t get discouraged. Make a plan and a list. Keep it in perspective. Work on one area at a time.  Get rid of as much stuff you don’t use as you can. And if you need help, call a friend for a few hours, or contact That’s Neat! Organizing.

Look for more tips on how I keep my sanity during the renovation project.