Let's start at the very beginning...

...it's a very good place to start....

So, I've been making my list of 52 organizing projects for 2011. And as I make my list, I've been making a second list of the same things, but in order of how I should tackle them...I've split them into projects that are grouped together and things that can be done independently of other things.

And I've discovered some interesting things about my house and my clutter.

Our main living areas are pretty well in control, it's the hidden places and our bedroom that are the problems. When I don't know where to put something, I dump it in our room to deal with it later. Which means there are piles everywhere (it also means we have TOO MUCH STUFF).

I need to curb that habit.

I'm great at stashing piles in bags...and really it would take maybe, oh, five minutes longer to put the piles away properly....

AND

I have a list. I do things. But they don't get finished or at least they don't get finished properly because I don't do them in the right order.

For instance.

I've been trying to store the clothes J has outgrown. They've been washed. They've been folded (I HATE folding laundry). They've been packed into storage containers. But the storage containers are cluttering up our bedroom floor.

Because I need to clear out J's closet first. But that's a huge job.

So, as I've tackled my list, I've looked at what needs to be done for something else to work. We have picked out a new storage unit for the living room. But we can't buy it until we get rid of the stuff that's there...things like that....

So maybe the very first thing we should do is clear out the storage room. Then we have somewhere to put things once they're sorted and ready to go away...

Oh, this is going to be a big job! But I'm ready for it!