Adding to Subtract on Monday

Free Bookcase

On Sunday, neighbor T's son R, daughter K, and K's friend who had come down from Seattle, Washington to help out at the yard sale continued to hold the yard sale.  I took them some of the cake I had baked and took another look at the items for sale, as they had put out items that had been inside the house on Saturday.  I managed to resist an unopened box of Christmas cards, but, picked up a board game.  I don't have many board games and often, when my daughter is home and her friends come over, they like to play board games and my daughter would usually tell them to bring their own board games because we don't have many.  When I asked K how much she wanted for the board game, she said I could just have it as she was not going to charge me after bringing them cake!  LOL.  

Later, when they were done with the sale, I saw them putting several items by the curb for bulky item pick up, including a bookcase and a small table.  I went over to talk to them and asked if I could have the bookcase, I'd give them $5 for it.  Once again, I was told I could just have it and R brought it over and carried it into the house for me.  What a blessing!  Plus, I was keeping things out of the landfill!  I picked up the small table, too:

Little Table

The little table is about 14 inches square and 14 inches high and very light.  I guess it would be called an occasional table?  My first thought when I saw it was that I could keep a houseplant on it.  The legs were a bit wobbly and I tightened the screws and it is fine, now.  It's a bit scuffed, as you can see in the photo, but, it fits in with the rest of my scuffed up furniture.  I have set up the electric space heater on it for now.

What about the bookcase?  It measures 28 inches wide, 36 inches high, and 12 inches deep (14 inches at the middle of the top, as it curves a bit); the height of the shelves are adjustable.  Did I need another bookcase?  Probably not!  Did I want another bookcase?  Oh, yes!  I had been wanting another bookcase for a long time, but, I thought I should declutter my possessions to fit the storage space I already had rather than buy yet another storage unit.  However, when there is a free bookcase and claiming it would keep it out of the landfill, I was more than happy to take advantage of it!  I cleaned it up and made room for it in the family room:

New Home for the Bookcase

All I did was pull out the small dining table away from the wall and center it under the hanging light fixture which is where we used to have the table for the longest time.  That left a space under the mirror for the new bookcase.

But, wait a minute, Bless!  Weren't you supposed to be decluttering this month?  Instead, here you are, adding more stuff to your house!

Yes!  My plan is to use the bookcase to store various overflow items that are currently scattered around because they don't have an assigned home.  I am hoping that adding more storage will help me with subtracting some of the clutter by keeping the various flat surfaces cleared.  Covered storage would have been better, but, the price was right on the bookcase.  If I can get some covered containers, that would keep the visual clutter to a minimum.    

I am keeping track of all the new items I am adding to the house and hopefully, I'll be able to declutter as many items as well and it will all work out! 

Today, I walked for 15 minutes without experiencing any pain and I was happy I was able to do that.  I also chatted with neighbor T's son and daughter (they were putting more stuff out, including a lovely old trunk and a smaller bookcase, but, I have absolutely no more room for any other furniture!) and said hello to neighbor S and another neighbor.  Later, I dusted and vacuumed the living room, dining area, and family room.  Then, rearranged the furniture a bit to make room for the new bookcase.  Finally, I took the trash cans to the curb for pick up in the morning.

Brunch was pancakes with mackerel curry (had one pancake with syrup, as well); dinner was leftover pancakes and mackerel curry!  Snacks included chocolate cake and peaches.

Today, I am grateful for:

- More free furniture!
- A productive day
- Chats with neighbors
- The space heaters
- A working vacuum cleaner

Today's joyful activity was rearranging the family room furniture to fit in the new bookcase.

Plans for Tuesday include continuing to tidy and sort out the family room, which, by the way, is the room of the week on the cleaning cycle.

How was your Monday?  What are your plans for Tuesday?