Getting it together

Garage unfuckination continued…

As promised, the still-fucked back left corner of my garage,

BEFORE:

You can imagine that door to the backyard didn’t get used too often. (Um, is that what I think it is?)

Yep! Any takers? No? Okay, have an AFTER:

The green barrel is where I keep the cat food. I got it from a friend whose son used to work at Hidden Valley Ranch - works great for keeping ants out.

Oh my, there really is light at the end of the tunnel. (Or a backyard that could use some unfucking too…)

This took about half an hour.

Garage unfuckination in progress…

Since finding UfYH last August, I have made vast improvements on keeping up with my house. I finally unfucked my rooms enough to get my carpet cleaned, including inside the closets. The cat pee is finally HISTORY! I haven’t had a floordrobe for 8 months, and insane amounts of backed-up dishes and laundry are a thing of the past. I still have some unfucking to do in my house, but it’s mainly down to an overhaul of my laundry room and reorganizing a few kitchen cupboards.

The garage, however, I haven’t touched for over 7 years, except to add more stuff. Since I could still park my car inside, I didn’t have the motivation to deal with the mess until a few weeks ago, when the temperature became just right for me to work outside.

BEFORE (6 or so weeks ago):

I began to work on it the UfYH (no burn-out) way, and after less than one hour per week,

+ 6 weeks of this

+ 1 trip to the dump with awesome son using awesome brother’s truck, here are BEFORE AND AFTERS:

The several black garbage bags are not really an issue, they just have insulation I use to plug up the opening to my swamp cooler in the winter.

ZOMG, is that a floor?! Last week I took our old TV and monitor to an Earth Day recycling location. Obviously there’s still a lot of stuff to go through (I’ll wager most of it is trash + camping stuff I’ll never use + a couple more big items for the dump) but I can manage one or two boxes/bags per week, even in the summer.

Back wall

I have to figure out how to get rid of old paint (the waste company won’t take it unless it’s dry), and the corner on the left side of the car needs to be cleaned up, which I’ll do this weekend. (Not shown… yet.)

The side wall still needs a little more work, and our poor bikes need to be washed before I take them in for a tune up, but at least now I can get to them! I’ll post more pics once I finish organizing, which might not be for a while.

How to make Piñata cookies!

nijisplash:

mischievousmelancholic:

nada-interessante:

!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(via fuckingrecipes)

Invisible corner unfuckination

BEFORE:

My wood-burning stove area hasn’t been properly unfucked in years. Between the piano and the stone were unread magazines (like over 7 years old!) that I had moved from my old house. They were neatly stored in organizers so they really were almost invisible, and at least I had the good sense to stop subscribing well before I moved. Yesterday, along with the orange bag of phone books I had never cracked open… in the trash!

The piles of X-Box games were a relatively new addition to the fuckedness - a couple of years ago I bought a plasma TV and in the process gave away my huge entertainment center which had tons of storage, so… this was where they ended up.

The piano was a dusty mess and sported a Christmas garland for at least a couple of years, probably three.

AFTER:

The light patch of carpet to the right of the stone was my old cat Max’s favorite peeing location. The discoloration is from the gallons of Nature’s Miracle I’ve poured on it. The carpet also desperately needs a good stretching.

I used the brush attachment to vacuum all the stone, wood and accessories. Maybe I’ll even start using the stove again!

But where did all the stuff go?

Right in that new storage unit from Tarjay. Everything but my classical CDs (in the basket on the floor) fits in it. It took the place of an oak bookcase, but I found a perfect spot in my bedroom for that. I like this one so much I’m thinking of buying another to replace the cheapo oak CD case on the left.

Bathroom floor challenge

Before - doesn’t look too bad at first glance.

But since finding UfYH, I started noticing the fuzz in the floor register, and this challenge was just what I needed to take it on…

After vacuuming and a surface scrubbing - still not great, but better.

The worst section, but it’s been worse…

This too isn’t so bad since it’s been about a week since I last Swiffered. I used to go through three just from hair alone.

AFTERS:

Okay, I was on a roll now:

Taki approves!

Final result with bonus washed bath mat:

(The tub still needs unfucking, but it can wait another day.)

Last-minute “hmm, I wonder…” bonus:

Before and after Bar Keepers Friend

Unfuckening my kitchen window

So, for a record three weeks after finding UfYH, I’ve kept up with my kitchen, my bedroom, my office and the laundry. In contrast to the rest of my mostly unfucked kitchen, the window was a sore spot, whereas before it just blended with the rest of the “bleh, I’ll deal with it later.”

Before:

Dirty window, dirty sill, dirty plant tray…

and a seriously dirty window frame.

After dusting one side…

… after both sides. Ew.

The sill after a wipe-down with hot soapy water. The red is from the bottom of a souvenir glass from Italy that my sister-in-law gave me. The black is a bar code from the sticker on the bottom of one of my little cat statues.

After a quick Magic Erasering. The bar code didn’t stand a chance, but one stubborn red speck remains.

More after pics:

And the fun part:

Actual window before…

aaaannnd after.

Bedroom closet unfuckery

I had a frustrating day at work and was actually looking forward to tackling my closet and feeling some sense of accomplishment for the day. Also, I had bought a few organization things for my closet shelf the night before and was curious to see how well they would work.

BEFORE:

I know mirrored closet doors are passe’ at the moment, but I love mine!

Beneath the bags on the left I discovered more yucky carpet thanks to my old cat Max (may he RIP). Those boxes are two shoe organizers I had purchased 3? 4? 5? years ago, but never felt like assembling…

…until tonight. It took about 45 minutes to assemble both of them (in my unfucked office/spare bedroom!).

*sigh* Time to get out the ol’ vinegar and baking soda remedy for neutralizing cat pee, followed by a sprayed-on hydrogen peroxide/dish soap mixture. Btw, I got the jumbo vinegar and baking soda from Costco for around $10 for the pair.

In one of the bags on the floor were stocking gifts from Christmas 2010(!), and one of them happened to be little closet deodorizers. I pounded a small nail on each side of my closet and hung a couple.

AFTER:

I tossed 8 pairs of shoes, and am giving away 3. I’ll move the left rack against the back wall once the carpet on the left is completely dry.

I’m really pleased with my shelf organizers. They were $7 each including tax at Target. I’m going to buy two more of the open ones - they are awesome!

Unfucked and easy to clear out for the carpet cleaners. (Just the living room and son’s bedroom left to go.)

Now I can say it was a good day.

Two down on my app’s To-Unfuck List

One of the reasons I bought my house seven years ago was the kitchen with its island cooktop. It’s about as easy as cleaning a stove can get. <3

…

The beast within. Also on my list was cleaning out my kitchen tool turner.

Emptied and crud swept out.

The pull-out trash looks like a good idea, but it’s slightly too large for standard trash bags and changing them is a royal pain. It’s basically the bane of my son’s existence. I tried to get rid of it today, but the frame’s screws are stripped to the point I couldn’t remove it. Oh well.

Unfucked using Bar Keepers Friend and Magic Eraser!

Now, an interior worthy of the exterior. :D