Effing Electronics: Battling The Clutter

So my husband and I have a very extensive DVD collection. Over 220 DVDs, not including boxed sets or video games. Needless to say, our entertainment center is packed. And I have mixed feelings over this. Part of me likes displaying our collection, an obvious visual cue to our being big-time Movie Buffs. However, since we do not watch all of them all the time, they are just sitting on the shelf, taking up space or collecting dust. And it's throwing off my vibe in the living room, since I have been inspired to go more minimalistic. I posed the suggestion to my husband that we sell or donate them in lieu of Netflix and he vetoed that right away.

So I came up with another option that he agreed with, one that will save up some space and dust-bunnies. We are going to put our movies into a DVD binder, which will protect them from scratching, dust, can be easily organized by category, and is portable so we can take our movies on trips if we want. I've found a product that comes in an attractive disguise as a leather book, click here.

However, I realize that this process will generate a lot of trash. So here's my plan: I'm going to contact our local movie rental shop and see if they will take the DVD cases to reuse. As for the DVD covers, the front pictures, there's a vendor on Etsy that uses them to make journals so I am going to ask if she wants them. If that all goes well the problem is solved!

As for TV - we don't watch it. We save tons of money on cable, I'm sure. Though, we do have Netflix, so we can watch TV shows and movies when we choose and the great thing is we don't have to be bombarded by commercials and advertisements. There's no way I could ever go back to regular TV, now that I have been spoiled by watching a show without commercials. And the only time my husband and I sit down to watch a movie (together) is in the evenings, so maybe I can convince him to move the TV to our bedroom to make the living room less about TV and more about conversation? Doubt it!

'Til next time, Dear Reader,
~*Nicole

The Cleaning Bug

Photo Courtesy of marthastewart.com

I am queen of procrastination! I confess! It's been - what? - five, six months since I blogged. I suppose I have no excuse as I have had no work or classes for the summer and have just been sitting on my ample bum doing nothing of value. Although I am probably being a little too harsh on myself... I have enjoyed events with friends and even made a little headway on a novel I haven't worked on since I was fifteen. Granted - it needs a lot of work and revision since I have grown and changed, but the basis is there - it's a start. Anyway, I have been yo-yo-ing between inspiration and complete lack of motivation, which accounts for the long interruption between blogs.

The past few days I have been completely waylaid by allergies! Ahhhh! Nasty things, really! Congestion, sore throat, itchy eyes, and not to even mention the exhaustion (at least for me). Of course, it probably doesn't help that my husband and I added another pet to our family (temporarily watching him for my sister), a small but fluffy thing that seems to do nothing but eat, sleep, crap, and shed long white hair all over my dark furniture! Granted it's not his fault, but it doesn't help my predicament.

Amidst the sneezing I caught the Cleaning Bug and decided to tackle our second bedroom (office/craft room) closet. What a challenge! I am seriously evaluating the small hoard of baubles and unused craft objects that have been passed down or that I have acquired, sitting there waiting to be used on some project or other. I keep forgetting they are there or what project I had in mind for them in the first place! Perhaps I have subconsciously held onto them as long as I have because I felt like the full drawers of bits and pieces made me a crafter/artist - which is just absurd. So I am trying to prioritize my projects and discard unfinished/un-started ones - I figure these materials would be much better in the hands of someone who will use them and am therefore going to donate to my local thrift store or post something on Craigslist. I have not yet finished the closet, but I already feel as if a weight has been lifted. I think next I shall start on my kitchen (again) and then my clothes closet (which has been needing some rotation and thinning). I have also taken a leaf out of Bea Johnson's blog and will be donating most of our books to the local library (which I have not yet stepped foot into and it is apparently right across the street!). I love to read, but honestly I have hardly touched my books and I find it much easier to read on the computer (since font can be enlarged and books can be awkward to hold after long periods of time, etc.) and we have been considering investing in a Nook so as to cut down on clutter. Also, and I have not yet brought this up to my husband, but we have an extensive DVD collection - which I am now realizing only 1/6 of which gets watched...I am going to propose that we sell those DVDs that hardly get watched since we have Netflix and can rent them anytime we get the urge to re-watch a movie. I think this would save space and be a valuable use of our money and time.

I look around our house and I see many non-functioning items and art pieces that I have no personal attachment to. Yet I still have this...fear/hesitation, I guess...of letting them go. What will I put in that place then, I ask myself? Can I find something functioning that replaces this aesthetically? I think this will be an interesting way to get the creative juices flowing, challenging but fun!

'Til next time, Dear Reader,
~*Nicole