It’s the end of Q2 and the halfway point of the year.
In January, my project to spend 15 minutes a day cleaning the basement began.
At the end of Q1, I wrote a post summarizing progress.
The projects expanded from the basement to two closets upstairs.
Second Quarter Observations
This quarter, I kept up the project of 15 minutes, but continued to reimagine spaces upstairs.
On days when an upstairs project isn’t in play, slow work in the basement continues.
My realization is that there are many spaces in the main house that need some attention.
I started calling this project “curation” time.
Sorting and curating what we want to remain in our home and phasing out what we don’t.
My patience with the mess during the individual projects has also continued.
Knowing that a bit of time with disarray will result in a purposeful space makes it OK.
The Progress
You might wonder what the 15-minutes a day (22.5 hours) in Q2 accomplished.
There were small projects that took about half the time.
Those included progress in the basement, a hall closet, and flipping my closet from winter to summer.
Then, there was a big project – my office.
I used my “15-minute curation” time to do some of the work – emptying the room, removing blinds, fixing small things, sorting what I wanted to keep/remove, loading things back in, and hanging pictures.
The time painting the walls, trim, and desk (20 hours) were done in blocks of time on the weekends.
The Projects – Hall Closet Before and After
The photo below is the hall closet.
The images on the left were before and during. The bottom image was the pile of trash and/or donation.
The image on the right is after.
As I put (less) things back into the hall closet, I started to think about it as the “bathroom refill store”.
I moved all the extra soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. from the master bedroom into this closet.
That way, whenever anyone needs something, they can grab it from the central location.
The Projects – Office Before and After
The other project I’ll highlight is the office.
When this room was last updated (10ish) years ago, I wanted a cozy, warm workspace.
The room has accomplished that for years. Here are the images:
However, recently the space stopped feeling cozy and started feeling claustrophobic.
I needed less chaos and a lighter feeling in the room.
To accomplish that, the walls are painted a single, lighter color.
The desk went from brown to the light tan of the walls.
Content was removed.
The furniture was rearranged in a new layout.
And, the bookshelves were refilled in a more organized/clean arrangement.
This is the room now:
Along the way, I needed to be comfortable with another room full of books and stuff.
My workspace was also messy and full of painting gear for 4-5 days while the walls were painted.
There were 2-3 weeks of things piled up before it was sorted and removed or put back into the room.
What’s Next
For the third quarter, the focus will intentionally NOT be on the basement.
Warm weather will shift the projects to the garage and outdoor spaces.
The goals are to clear, organize, and repair.
There are MANY projects in these categories to tackle.
If the weather is bad, I’ll spend the 15-minute sessions continuing progress in the basement.
Your Turn
Has my 15-minute project inspired you to start your own?
With the warm weather, what outdoor projects could you tackle in 15-minutes a day?
What area in your life need attention next?