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Friday, July 27, 2012

Removing Some Clutter

You know how we all have clutter spots in the house?
This wall in our dining area seems to be the spot for us.
The buffet, which is really 4 thrift store dressers lined up with a piece
of counter top laid across the top, is great for holidays and entertaining,
 but it also is a large empty space that tends to be a magnet for
clutter, too.  The shelves had also become too crowded and needed
to be dusted.  So today I cleared the shelves, dusted, sorted
and put about half of the stuff back.  


Much better!


I voiced my wishes to all family clutter bugs
that it would be nice to keep it this way! :)


One more spring cleaning item crossed off of my list.
I know...it's summer...but it takes me longer. ha.


75 comments:

  1. Care to tackle my place next? You may have to live there a while, doll!

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    Replies
    1. haha..you'd love that, wouldn't you? Shall we call in The Hoarders show? ...ducks....
      Seriously, I know you've been uncluttering things yourself! After you remove all the junk, a little Liquid Gold will make everything look great! :)

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    2. hey...what are you doing ...commenting first? :)

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    3. Not sure if I'll be able to keep up with comments. I'm on a cell phone! But you should see my living room, it's so spacious we could dance in it! Care to?

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    4. haha...sure, I'd love to. Enough floor space to dance...I'm impressed, really!

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    5. So let me guess...a slow dance? the locomotion? haha...oh, I know! A sock hop! lol....

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    6. Socks? Well, if I can find them...

      Actually, I like the slow dances better. And maybe I'll sing to you...

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  2. I have to clean too, my books ,magazines (lol), shells and I have some ceramic house how you, Love your pictures, you inspired me maybe the weekend I will clean some things, love your jars too:)

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    1. I tend to ignore those shelves when I dust. Once a month I run the brush attachment of the vacuum around things, but that's not as good as taking it all down and doing it right.

      If you do it, take pictures! :)

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    2. HA! Ok Mrs. lol!! haha, I have to clean more I know but today I was almost all day at the kitchen, cooking,baking and cleaning:)
      I think take some pictures to you see the seashells, today I mopped the Kitchen (is ok mopped??) and remember you! x

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    3. yes, mopped. My floor needs it...maybe tomorrow. :)
      Yesterday was my baking day...nice!

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    4. I dont know what happens betsy I comment but post down anyway yes I baked today and I enjoyed and think you will love that I made :)

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    5. It's at the bottom of the comments! ha. Did you post your cake? I'll come and see.

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    6. No dear Im working in an empanadas post but Im not ready the following will be the cake is with pears!

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    7. oh..cake with pears...that sounds delicious! Pears are one of my favorite fruits!

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  3. Looks great, I love the seashells and teapots!

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    1. thanks, Rita ...seashells and teapots...yes...I do, too!

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  4. Good luck getting your men to keep their things out of there :-)

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    1. haha...well, they don't bother the shelves, but the mister loves to throw his laptop and junk on the buffet. I already gave out the new rules. lol....

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  5. think it will last beyond tomorrow? smiles....we def have clutter spots...the bar in the kitchen def has magnets in it....you did a great job straightening up...

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    Replies
    1. oh yeah...our kitchen island, too...but I clear that off every day. It's just too convenient when people walk in...and the kitchen is the gathering spot. ha.

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  6. I'm impressed with your buffet! What a great idea.

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    Replies
    1. thanks, mari...it needs a fresh coat of paint...maybe when the boys get back into school this fall. But it is great for space and I use the drawers for a lot of kitchen stuff.

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  7. Looks lovely! Nothing like some empty spaces to make you feel rested right?

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    1. Isn't it funny how that works? I do make sure the table is wiped clean and a centerpiece is the only thing on the table. It's something psychological...it looks orderly and makes me feel like I'm in control of at least one thing. haha...someone should study my head. :)

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  8. Mine was todat, I think you will love the cake I made today:)

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  9. Doesn't it feel good to de-clutter?

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    Replies
    1. Yes! And it's addictive, too! I'm already eyeing the shelves in the next room! ha.

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  10. Great job....but I want to know, what's going on between you and the Silver Fox!!??
    Does the Mr ever read your blog...I am sure he would be jealous..hahaha

    Another fine job...by the incredible Betsy!!

    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha...I just let him have a spot on my dance card. I'm sure he'd give you a swing around the dance floor, too. lol....

      Yes, the shelves DO look better! I need to do this every where in my house! And it's kind of fun!

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  11. It looks great, and feels good too! I've been away since March, so be sure and stop by again and visit! Sandi

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    1. Hi, Sandi! You've been missed! You have been gone a long time! Thanks for stopping by!

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  12. BEAUTIFUL! I love that dresser/ buffet idea...BRILLIANT!

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    1. thanks, anita! It created a ton of storage...love that!

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  13. You did a great job and what a great idea to make your buffet.
    Smart.
    Oh, I just love to declutter!

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    Replies
    1. oh, me, too and the whole house is do a good going through! I have a few thrift store boxes laying about to throw things in! :)

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  14. You are so organized! Seeing what a nice job you did makes me almost want to tackle my office. But, unlike you, I don't enjoy it at all, so cluttered it shall remain. :)

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    1. haha...to each his own, right? But getting started is the hardest part and the end result is your reward. But since it's addicting, you're rewarded with the itch to do something else. If you were to start and ended up going through your whole home, your wife might not like it! haha

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  15. looks wonderful, such an interesting display, a whole bunch of beautiful! I love the aqua mason jars, they are hard to find,

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    Replies
    1. the are hard to find...but they do show up at the auctions! I guess not everyone wants them. ha.

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  16. Love the look, and I have a thing for lamps..I love small lamps and they are all over my house.

    I noticed immediately the Still Life painting you got at the auction. It's really looks nice on the shelf.

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    1. that was the first thing I put on the clean, empty shelves! :)

      And I was happy to see it was all still clean this morning....not a single thing thrown on that buffet...not even the mister's laptop or junk mail. lol....

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  17. Wow, it looks really great. I love your buffet idea too!

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    1. thanks, bobbi....it's been great to have and cost hardly anything!

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  18. Did you catch the de-cluttering bug from me or did I catch it from you? Whatever : we march on together, united in our determination to free the world from clutter.

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    1. hahaha....good question! I bet Issy is thrilled with your endeavors. :)

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  19. Mmmmm, I love looking at people's collections. I especially like your groups of white crockery and shells....so you! And what a wonderful idea to put the 4 chests together to form the buffet...genius idea!

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    1. you have a good eye picking out those things...I've always been drawn to both of those!

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  20. Looks very nice. GREAT ideal with the dressers and counter top-I like that. Around here I bet the drawers would all be the catchall drawers!

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    1. haha...well, I would say that two of them are full of things I'm not sure what to do with yet. But the rest are in organized categories...cookie cutters, cake pans, muffin and cheesecake pans, seasonal candles, paper plates/napkins, cake decorating tips and bags, etc, etc. It's freed up my kitchen cupboards a lot.

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  21. WOW!!! I have some spots that need the Declutter Treatment, too, Betsy! You are inspiring me!! blessings ~ tanna

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  22. The top pic was clutter!?!? No way!!!! :-) Take care
    x

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    1. you can't be serious....lol....look closer. :)

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  23. Well even with the clutter
    Didn't make my ocd stutter
    But looks way way better now though
    Wonder how long it will remain that way before it once more starts to grow?
    At least now you have proof too
    And you can show all that is was uncluttered once at you zoo haha

    ReplyDelete
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    1. If you had seen the dust
      you might have made a fuss
      and a few dead moths found
      laying around
      Yuck I said
      and shook my head.
      Now it's clean
      and that makes me happy.
      lol.

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    2. Well yeah the dust and moths would be yuck
      Almost as bad as muck
      Would need that gone
      But then dust just comes back like the grass on the lawn

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  24. Looks GREAT. It always feels good to tackle a project like that!

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  25. Well done. You have done a good job! I should do the same too.

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  26. Love your conch shells and pin cushion star fish.

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    1. thanks, daniel...the star fish are from antique stores...the conch shells from Mexico and an auction find! :)

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  27. Job well done- I wish I had the get up and go to get busy cleaning my closets- they are my clutter spots!

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    1. oh, my closet needs, it, too! ha. I'm working my way around the house. ;)

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  28. Consider it a LATE spring cleaning. LOL The Counter looks great. Try as we may, it wouldn't stay that way.

    I'm probably a very guilty clutter bug. But if I clean, I might find another child under all that stuff. Better to just let things be as they are.

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  29. This looks like a wonderful storage space, Betsy. My clutter spot is my dining room table --my husband drops off his papers, magazine, keys iPod and mail waiting to be spent, etc. there all the time!

    PS I tried Google Chrome and didn't like it as it would leave white backgrounds behind soem of my paragraphs for some reason. I went back to blogging through IE

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    1. The Mister likes to lay his stuff on the dining room table, too! ha. And I noticed when he didn't lay anything on the buffet, more went on the table. haha...I moved it all to his office.

      that white background has happened to me when I backspace or delete while writing a post. You can choose the correct background color and highlight those words. I may have to go back to IE if I can't figure this other thing out. Maybe the power outage was just a coincidence.

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  30. Love your buffet! And I see you also like to collect plates! We did a similar thing with a buffet along one wall in our dining room, and above it--not shelves--but my wife's PLATE COLLECTION! And every single one of them holds a special memory for her since most came down through the family. Several were her grandmothers. I'll have to post a blog one day so you can take a look.

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    1. Thanks, Don! I do have a lot of plates...and some are my grandmother's too! I've seen some lovely random collection displayed on walls. I'd love to read a post about your wife's plates! :)

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  31. When I do things like this, I feel like I have all new things. I think the changes are perfect and hope they stay uncluttered. And I think it is a law of physics that all flat spaces attract stuff. :) Hope I didn't go all cerebral on you with that physics stuff. :)

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  32. The change looks amazing. It looks like you had one of those professionals come in and completely apply their "know how" to color schemes, textures, sizes, etc. I love it!

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