SPRING CLEANING

What a fantastic idea. I love spring cleaning. Sadly, I usually let it get to be late summer cleaning, and then it gets to be fall cleaning and pretty soon … well, it’s easy enough to let it go altogether.

It’s never that big of a deal, tho. There’s even contests you can run, such as which corners can get the most complicated cobwebs, or which shelves can accumulate the most dust the fastest – hey, I’ve gotta keep that stuff somewhere.

But at some point, you just have to man up, grab a leaf-blower and find that living room floor. Approach it in the spirit of Indiana Jones. Who knows what hidden treasure, lost masterpieces and buried civilizations you might find? Heck, I found a whole table in the kitchen. You never know – you might uncover an old roommate or two, and then you can hit them up for back rent.

In my case, I took a week off work and determined I was going to reclaim my apartment. I unloaded an oversized sofa and several bits of ancient cabinetry that had quite outlived their usefulness. According to the Recycling Center, I got rid of something like 270 pounds of old files that couldn’t be of any interest even to archaeologists in the far flung future (i.e.: “These appear to be someone’s phone bills from 1994, so … we know that they had … phones … back then.”) I also got rid of boxes and boxes of file clippings and tearsheets (no one is ever going to need a business page I built in 1995 for the Devils Lake Daily Journal, and if they do, they can talk to the Journal directly).

I reorganized my front room so as to better enjoy my media center. I broke my computer desk down and repurposed the shelf for additional space, setting it up on some cinderblocks and using the space underneath for archives, extraneous computer components, blankets and linens and formal dinnerware that I just don’t need taking up shelf space in my kitchen.

I turned my desk so I can look out the window, which has been pleasant. I moved my keyboard out to the front room so I can play it (rather than in the corner of my bedroom covered with workout wear). I set my remaining loveseat and recliner in the best possible place to watch not only the television, but my new fish.

Last time my folks were here on a visit, my mom asked why I was holding onto coffee makers I didn’t use and coffee carafes I didn’t have a coffee maker for anymore. I said that sometime down the road, I wanted to put fish in them. Well, since then I lost my betta, so this seemed like a great opportunity to bring that idea to fruition. The fish end up on top of the cinderblock shelving unit looking very cool. And I keep their food in the hopper of the four-cup, which seems like a really convenient and clever place for it.

Of course my media project continues apace. Along with shelves and shelves of VHS tapes I’m slowly making some headway with (I’m currently at well over 600 homemade DVDs and the project is chugging along), I was using the space behind the tapes for storage as well. Sadly, it was really hard to get at anything back there, so it was mostly a disorganized mess I tried not to think about. But now that I had some time and energy to bring to bear on it, I rethought the situation. Solution: By storing the tapes on their side, I can actually shift them easily out of the way to access the space behind them, where I’m keeping gift boxes, gift wrap and other seasonal stuff I don’t need too often.

Also, as the tapes are processed I needed to do something with them, and it seemed silly to let them take up a lot of readily accessible storage space. I boxed most of them up and got them out of the way, and used the space for stationery and printer supplies, which is a lot more convenient and a better place for that stuff to be. And the pile of processed tapes is a lot smaller and more easily managed.

In clearing junk from my coat closet (which now actually has room for coats in it) I found a small shelving sconce, and determined it would be a great place for a lamp to be. As it happens, I was right. Also, I determined that I would never, ever need the massive box my air conditioner came in ever again (I wouldn’t necessarily need to put it in a box in order to move it, and I’d not taken it out of my kitchen window for years), so I tossed that big waste of space as well. And emboldened by my move of the coffee carafes to the living room and my formal dinnerware to storage, I cleared out the other kitchen cabinets as well. I’m not saying I’m entirely done with that project, but I’m very pleased with the progress.

I mentioned my kitchen table. That is, I did, but you thought I was kidding. I got a whole half a year’s worth of filing and correspondence straightened out and filed away.

So, after a week’s worth of work, I feel certain I caught myself up with my spring cleaning – at least through 2004.

But that’s not all. I’ve determined that part of my depression comes from letting things pile up and get out of control, so I’ve made a few changes. With one exception, I was up at 6 a.m. every day this past week. I made my bed and did my dishes every morning, and managed a Tarot reading every day which is a nice centering exercise for me. I made coffee and read the paper every morning before going to work and I got to work, on average, an hour earlier than usual. And despite the rain, I managed 10 miles of walking, two video uploads and this incredibly long gallery entry, complete with the following photos – a glimpse of my freshly revitalized space. Enjoy!

Bedroom Kitchen/Dining Bath Front Room Details

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