M. Suzanne Terry

This week, in addition to the cooking habit (which I will update tomorrow) and the cleaning habit (which is working far better than I ever imagined it would – YAY!), I will be focusing my deep cleaning and organizing mojo on the entryway.  When I was planning the schedule, I thought, “Oh, the entryway would be the perfect room to work on during my short week.  It doesn’t have a lot of work that needs to be done on it.” When I was taking the before pictures on Saturday, I thought, “I feel cheat-y – this looks pretty good, on account-a I just had people over this morning.”

Then I looked at the pictures again a minute ago, and I do not feel cheat-y anymore.  Even in its relatively-put-to-place state, this area needs a lot of work. This post might get long.

For the purposes of this project, I am considering the entryway to be the door area, the mail table and the shelves beside it, the dining table, and the little area where the table goes when the Christmas tree is up.

First – the shelves –

The original purpose:

• to hold movies and CDs
• to hold the clock/radio/CD player
• to display adorable coffee/tea/serving pieces that don’t fit in the kitchen

What I want to change:

• I hate the CDs and movies out on display.  I’m going to move the movies to the TV cabinet (where, according to logic, they should be anyway).  I am also going to scour thrift stores for small CD cases and use the sleeves to alphabetize my CDs in the orange boxes (hidden behind the coffee plaques) so I can get rid of all the hideous jewel cases. I might also have to buy more boxes.
• I want to find a little shelf to double up and consolidate the espresso cups on one shelf.
• As the clock radio is my only CD player in the house, it gets to stay, but I’m moving some of the coffee plaques I have elsewhere in the house to hide it.
• Main goal – create a little more shelf space for various other items taking up space around the apartment so that I have more room for things that don’t fit there.

Next, the entryway table/main area:

 Feel free to bask in the gorgeousness of this table.  I’ll wait.

The original purpose of this area:

• To organize all the things I tend to drop when I walk in – keys, umbrella (in the orange pail by the door), mail, etc.
• To store bar glasses (inside the table) and wine (the sadly empty swirly thing in the corner)
• To sort mail so that it doesn’t become a monster that eats my house

What I want to change:

• I want to distinguish between inbox and outbox in the mail file.
• I want to put up some small pictures that I had in my room when I was a little girl in the blank space beside the mirror to un-blah that white space.

The doorway:

 And a close-up:

Instead of original purpose (as it is evident that I didn’t actually have one), I am going to tell you what’s going on here:

• Towels around the door work as a buffer to keep out hot or cold air (whichever one I’m trying to combat, according to the season), insects, and all the smoke from the neighbors who don’t seem to understand that smoke does not recognize a closed door as something designed to keep it out and thus will just seep right in, particularly when one is smoking directly in front of said door, directly below said door, or really, anywhere within 10 feet of said door. Super-smeller problems.
• A sad door in a shoddily crafted building next to a site that was under construction (read: shaky ground) for a year and a half.  The door does not really fit the door frame, so the bottom latch and lock only work sporadically (better in the summer than in the winter, for some reason).  When people come in to fix things, I need them to lock the deadbolt when they leave in order to insure that my house stays locked, so I leave them a helpful reminder.
• Orange dot carpets.  Super cute, but they need to be washed often more often than they get washed.
• That box is just straight up trash.
• Crock pot was used, and that’s where the most readily available plug in the house was.  Then it was washed…and it stayed there.

What I want to change:

• All.  The.  Things.
• Ultimately, fix the door.  I can fix the deadbolt latch easily enough, but I need to call in the apartment maintenance crew to fix the huge gap under the door. This might not happen by the end of the week, however, because although they have a key and have every right to enter the apartment when I’m not there, they seem to want me to be there when they are working on something, and because I work full-time during the day, this significantly limits our time frame – hence, the problem still being a problem.
• Until the door is fixed – find a less tacky way to block the breeze.  I have a surplus of towels, and I could probably fashion a prettier solution and then affix it with velcro so that it will stay even when the door is closed from the outside but can also be easily removed and washed.  That’s my current plan.  This will either be a great idea or an amusing story.
• Wash the orange dots and spread them out.
• Quit being lazy and take trash out when needed instead of piling it by the door.
• Move crock pot back to its home.
• Put up Find and mount the coat rack I have on the wall opposite the door.
• Find something to do with that rod that’s just hanging out in the corner.

The dining table:

The original purpose of the area:

• Place to eat (or serve, when hosting gatherings larger than two)
• Where the Christmas tree goes when ’tis the season

What I want to change:

• Not much – I like the placement.  Maybe add fresh flowers to the table.
• This area tends to draw clutter (observe the unopened Pampered Chef box under the table). Stop that.
• You can’t see it, but behind the curtain are small pots of dirt with dead herbs in them.  This window gets amazing light and will serve as a great herb windowsill when I decide I want to do that. I want to start collecting pots that fit there.

And finally, the space where the table goes during Christmas:

It’s a small space, but I promise, the table fits.

What I want to change:

• Ultimately, move blue chair to bedroom where it belongs.
• Get a small (read: something that would fit under dining table, as it will have to for about a month out of the year) cabinet to store liquor and cocktail paraphernalia.

Today, tomorrow, and Friday are thrift days.  I will be on the lookout for the cabinet, mini-shelves, velcro, and CD books/sleeves.

Whew.  Tall order for a short week.  It might not all happen, but I hope to make great strides.