Previously I wrote about how I was going to engage in The Great Kitchen Makeover here at Hectic Manor. While I’m not planning to announce it to my family, I have created a form of accountability by announcing it on the blog. I guess I’m willing to withstand the judgment of you readers more readily that I’ll accept that of my family. For whatever that’s worth…
With my five trusty boxes and list in hand, I decided to attack the cabinets in our kitchen island first. While we’re in and out of these occasionally, the decluttering of these cabinets won’t be very disruptive to the Hectic Family. Frankly, I’m the one who’s in these cabinets most frequently followed by very infrequent forays by my youngest daughter. So at most I’m looking at inconveniencing one other person. I can live with that!
I decided to take this project seriously, so I’m forcing myself to set aside dedicated time to accomplish the work. One of the reasons I’ve failed so miserably in the past is because I was always trying to fit this project in. I figured I could shoehorn a little bit of work here and there. And time after time I dropped the ball. I would never get started or I would start and get nothing substantial done. I’ve come to the realization I need to treat this as a priority if I’m going to make progress. To that end, I’ve scheduled a solid hour to work on one side of the kitchen island. I don’t know if that’s enough time or not, but I’ve got to start somewhere. Not only that, I’ve scheduled a time when I’ll be able to concentrate on the task. That should help.
There are two large cabinets on this side of the island. One is exclusively my stuff. Things that I don’t use very often, but I think I need. The other side is mostly items belonging to the kids. Frankly I’m not sure who owns what. At some point I’ll have to determine that without creating a lot of furor, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. One of the advantages of having a tech-savvy family is they’re used to me sending group questions, including photos. I’m using that method of communication moving forward.
I’m concerned about the amount of space for the actual work. The five boxes are kind of large. The countertops are currently very cluttered, so there’s not going to be much space. Yeah, I know I should’ve cleared them first…but there’s just too much activityto make them good candidates for my first decluttering skirmish. I need a quick win with no friction. I’ll have to make do with the space and time I’ve allotted.
I’m also planning to use the figure it out box minimally. I can’t have a bunch of stuff accumulating in that box. In fact, at the end of each decluttering session I need to empty each box. That means making hard decisions on the spot (thanks for the advice Carla). This is a change for me, I usually dally decidingto get rid of things. Hence my accumulated mess. If I’m to win this war, I’m must be decisive. Nothing like setting out to do that with the first skirmish!
I’m also going to deeply clean the cabinets while they’re emptied out. As I was prepping to start this project, it dawned on me we haven’t done a deep cleaning of the storage places since we first moved into the remodeled kitchen. That was Spring 2005. I think it’s reasonable to do a deep cleaning at least every 13 years, don’t you? Of course, now I’m terrified of the call I’m going to get from my Mom when she reads this post. She’s gonna be hella mad that we haven’t done a deep cleaning every damned year. Sorry Mom!
I realize the cleaning will add time to the project, but it desperately needs to be done. Hence my plan to take an hour on two cabinets. Of course as a data nerd, I’ll record how long each phase takes, giving me a way to schedule the upcoming sessions.
Doing the Work
Enough with the talking. It’s time to get to the doing!
I’ll let you know how it goes…
