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Moving Monday::House Tour

by Filed Under: Photography 1 Comment

Whaaaa, moving is so much work!  Okay so we haven’t really begun to pack yet because our focus has been on the purging, organizing, sorting and getting the house in ship shape for showing.  Since I took the photo’s the realtor will be using I thought I would share a behind the scenes tour of our home.

Welcome, please come on in!

Half Bath

The Kitchen

Our Back deck with my jungle of plants, sadly some will not be coming with us.

The Dining Room looking towards the back deck and the kitchen.

The living room

The living room from the dining room, as you can see the first floor has a very open floor plan and great windows!

The Master Bedroom

What use to be our guestroom is now our staging area with packing supplies at the ready.

2nd Bath

The Office

This pretty well concludes the tour of our home for the past 6 years.  I’ve left out a few areas including the full basement because it’s not much to look at right now.  Below is what it use to look like when I had my carpet design office down there, now it’s another staging and storage area but will be a great space for whomever move in here next.

There is still a lot to do, including getting stuff out of here which we are continuing to sell.  Rather than a yard sale we will be participating in a Flea Market to sell the remaining items this coming weekend.  A few furniture pieces, art and craft items, tires, tools, electronics and other odds and ends will be going.  Now that the house is pretty much ready to show we will on alert to vacate for the realtors at a moments notice.  I’m sure that’s going to be fun!  I’m trying to keep a positive attitude but the limbo part of this process is particularly tough on me.  I’m a very home based person so I feel I’m being invaded but it’s what we must do to move on.  I’ll be back next week with reports on the flea market and the realtor’s listing info.  If you know anyone who you think would love to live in this house in Gaithersburg, MD please get in touch!

Texture Tuesday::Specimines on my windowsill

by Filed Under: Inspiration & Education, Photography 5 Comments

It is late so I’m not going to say much BUT this photo was taken with my new Canon 60D!  So far I LOVE IT:)

This is my kitchen windowsill which includes a small vase of flowers, a  “Joy” message stone and a collection of antique miniature jars containing various specimens of moths, insects, flower and plant seeds, mica pieces and Yogi tea messages (because they are better than fortune cookie messages).   I’m taking the time to stop and enjoy the small pieces of our home that I love.  I love that my kitchen sink overlooks the back yard and I’m always bringing a bit of the outdoors inside to my windowsill.  Today’s image was enhanced by Kim Klassen’s texture “Granny’s Cupboard”.  Check out some other photography using her textures here.

Do you decorate your windowsills?

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Moving Monday::Week 5 Count Down

by Filed Under: Art Leave a Comment

This past week’s focus has been on part one of preparing the house to show.  Both my husband and I have been busy doing some serious deep cleaning, purging and misc. small job’s around the house to make it all shiny and ready to go on the market.  In some ways it doesn’t feel real yet, a lot of what we are doing could be chalked up to a really major fall cleaning and it’s small detail work that’s not all that visible on the surface but it will make a difference in showing.  On Friday the realtor came by to check things out, collect a key and discuss how the showings will work and this defiantly made the whole move seem more real!  This coming week is part two of getting the house ready which means more purging and then organizing the stuff that needs to go into neat areas and getting the stuff that we can out.

Today I had a cancellation in my schedule and I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather so I decided to take advantage of it and stay home.  It was the perfect day to do a BIG PURGE of the ART and CRAFT SUPPLIES!   The husband’s been out of the house all day and I’ve had a movie marathon while sorting piles and piles of stuff.  I’m not done and might be staying up late to finish the fabric and yarn stash but I plan to get through all of the craft stuff TODAY!  I’ve got a really large pile so far and there’s sure to be more before I’m done!  I’ve toyed with the idea of trying to sell some of it at a flea market we are selling at in early October but I think with so much going on I’m just going to donate a big part of it and give some things to friends.  If you live in the DC metro area and want to know what I’ve got leave a comment or shoot me an email.

It feels FANTASTIC.  I was skeptical when I started this morning, I wasn’t sure I was in the right frame of mind to do this today but I feel so free and liberated.  If I don’t LOVE it, it’s going.   I mean, I’m finally getting rid of things I’ve moved about 4 times already (from MD to KY to GA back to MD), it’s about time don’t you think?   I have sooooo many types of craft and art supplies that go all the way back to when I worked in an art supply store in college.   Here’s what my stash includes and my strategy is to get rid of some things in all the categories because I still dabble in all the them and these are the creative outlets that will stick with me in the future as well.

Categories of Craft and Art Collections in my Stash::

Knitting (the yarn stash includes both knitting and weaving yarns!!)

Textile arts (dyes, chemicals and fixatives for dying yarns and fabrics of various kinds, also recently have accumulated various rusted metal objects for natural dying and I still have a large stash of onion skins even though I did one batch of natural dying with them recently)

Weaving *OK, I haven’t really woven in 6 years! (except a small bit on my table loom) but I still have tools etc I’m not ready to part with.  Will I ever weave again?  I hope so!

Sewing (patterns, embroidery supplies, fabric, thread and other tools and supplies)

Paper crafts (glues, papers galore, brads, stamps, paper punches, cutters etc) *Did I ever mention here I use to have a small greeting card line when I lived in GA?  I still make holiday cards and do other paper crafting quite frequently.

Fine art (paints, pastels, boards and canvases, markers, colored pencils, sketchbooks and various specialty papers)

Is there anything I don’t have?  It feels like it but I suppose if I did clay or more 3-d art it might be worse.  At least my loom (which is FOR SALE) is dis-assembled and got rid of basket making supplies after our last move.

The remainder of this week is CRUNCH time for getting the house ready to show.  Mainly this means more purging and then organizing all the stuff we are getting rid of into neat categories of DONATIONS, FOR SALE and TRASH (which needs to go to the dump this week).  I’ve also got some fall yard cleanup to do and it looks like the weather should be pretty nice for this.

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Procrastination is not healthy…or is it?

by Filed Under: Photography 3 Comments

At least not chronic and habitual procrastination.  Honestly I haven’t met anyone who procrastination was good for in the long run…but in the short term, sometimes I think it can be a good thing.  Right now though I find myself severely procrastinating beginning the work to move.  I procrastinate when I am totally overwhelmed and right now, that’s how I feel.  I don’t know where to begin in theory but in reality I’m avoiding DOING what I need to.

My list doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter because a lot of what I’ve accomplished so far is invisible stuff!  Like making phone calls, sending emails, researching, running errands…today though I’m beginning with the deep cleaning we need to do to get the house ready for showing.  Cleaning is usually a good place for me to begin when I’m feeling overwhelmed, it’s physically demanding, task oriented and has visible results!  I know for some people cleaning is a reason for procrastination.  For me though, I’d rather start whatever big job I have to do with a clean slate, so cleaning helps me get motivated.  I’m not saying I love it just that I know what to do to get myself going.

Sure, I’d rather be sitting outside enjoying the remaining days of summer but alas…too much to do and the weather today has turned decidedly fall like today!  I did take a little break today from all the moving madness to swing by my garden and pick a few tomatoes, tomatillos, sunflowers and pull a few weeds.  The garden isn’t done yet, summer isn’t over yet and we are where we are for the moment.  In the midst of the chaos of moving I am making a promise to myself to stop, procrastinate a little (as needed) and enjoy the last of the time we have living where we are.  The packing and moving will get done!

What tricks do you have to motivate yourself when you find your in a procrastination zone?

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Moving Magement Countdown

by Filed Under: Move Management, Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources 6 Comments

It’s official: we found out today that we can leave the DC metro area by the end of October.  This is about a month sooner than anticipated, but it’s PERFECT!  It seems like things are falling into place, that this move is meant to be.  I can’t wait to move forward, but right now, I’m looking at all OUR STUFF, thinking, “I hate moving.”  That is not going to be the case this time. I’m embracing it, and I’m going to love it!   I’ll check in each Monday here on the blog to tell you about the move management process.  So, this week is the first week. Here is what we are doing to plan and organize our move, and maybe it will be helpful to some of you at some point.

  • Start a “Moving” binder or expandable file folder to keep all the information in one location. Include everything related here (e.g., the moving information, donations, sales and giveaways, storage, lodging, and other information for the destination location).
  • Use food, cleaning supplies, and other perishables or consumables you don’t want to move.
  • Check pricing on moving companies, trucks, and storage facilities and be ready to book in 1-2 weeks. There are several options: DIY, hire a service or a hybrid (you pack, they move).
  • Make decisions about large items to sell, donate, or give away. Collect items to get rid of (for donation, sale, or throw away) throughout daily routines; keep an empty box and bags in one location and place items to get rid of.
  • Research hotels or other temporary housing and book as needed.
  • Enlist or hire help for the day of the move and unpacking the following days.

Moving BoxesPacking Supplies:

  • Locate and purchase boxes and other packing supplies. Determining the number of boxes needed is a bit tricky, but a moving supply company can help you calculate this based on how many household members you have and how large your home is.  Supplies will include the following:
    • Boxes in various sizes, specialized wardrobe boxes, china and silverware boxes, flat boxes, and cardboard for artwork.
    • Equipment such as dollies and hand carts will make moving large items much easier and safer.
    • Packing tape (and guns), markers, labels, box cutters (or other such knives), bubble wrap/packing peanuts, and newspaper (or unprinted newsprint, which is much less messy).
    • Packing pads, blankets, sheets (the old ones you don’t need anymore), and plastic shrink wrap (which is not very eco-friendly but sometimes is very helpful!).

Lists and Inventory:

  • Number each box and add it to the list
  • A short description of the contents of each box, making special notes of valuable (sentimental or monetary) items or general contents by Category ex. Lampshades, pillows, linens, china, clothes, etc.
  • Label the box with the DESTINATION room location
  • Work alongside packers (if you’ve hired a moving company) to be sure boxes are labeled accurately (even if they don’t have a description, you can add a number and room)

Packing-Where to start:

  • Pictures and artwork, especially personal photos
  • Next, remove all the small artwork from the walls. Pack smaller photos and artwork in medium-sized boxes, with newsprint wrapped around each and bubble wrap or cardboard between them.
  • Small decorative non-function items. Otherwise known as Nicknacks:)
  • Formal china, stemware, crystal, and serving pieces.
  • Books of anything you won’t need to refer to.

Since the move is going to take up a lot of my time, I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to commit to blogging, but I’ll be popping in to share our progress and any other helpful or interesting things that come up. I am SO excited!! Can you tell?

 

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