Brandie’s Decluttering Diary
August 16
Jaclyn and I have our first meeting. We tour the house, write a wish list, grab the calendar and set some target dates for completing my decluttering in stages. She helps me sort through endless paper and other miscellany in our spare room. When I look at it, I don’t know where to start, but Jaclyn explains that we should just pick one corner, plow through it and move clockwise around the room.
August 23
My first deadline – book an estimate for having the attic insulated.
September 6
Second deadline – find an inexpensive cabinet to hide unsightly cleaners in tiny laundry room/mudroom off the back of the kitchen. We snag a cheap white melamine one at Canadian Tire, and with a coat of white paint and a scrap of vintage fabric for an improvised curtain, actually make the space look half decent – at least when it’s not bulging with laundry. We encounter our first roadblock. The contractor arrives to give an estimate on the attic and neither he nor my husband, Derek, can get the trap-door open. Urgh!
September 13
Today’s one of our scheduled days to report our progress to Jaclyn. Eek! We don’t have all our homework done yet.
September 30
We miss our deadline to have the attic insulated. Not a big deal. They’re booked for early next month. In a stroke of luck we’re able to convince a handy friend to let us hire him to fix the trap door and install a safer, easy-to-use ladder.
October 13
Attic is insulated today.
October 21
Jaclyn spends the afternoon helping us move the contents of a shed (scheduled for demolition as part of a landscaping project) into the attic. She and I sort in the backyard and fill the car with stuff for Goodwill, while Derek assembles shelves.
November 5
I pick up a wall-mounted organizer from IKEA that has a canvas bag for each of us to corral accessories in the tiny front-hall closet.
December 9
Derek installs front hall closet gizmo and excess stuff goes to the attic in labeled bins. Toys get a pre-Christmas edit – some stuff to Goodwill, other stuff to the attic (all when three-year-old Cameron isn’t looking, of course). We meet with stylist Sasha Seymour to discuss her décor spiff-up.
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