You do not mention whether your cat is an inside, inside/outside, or outside cat. Our cat, Divinci, is inside/outside, and he would throw up his food if he was outside before meals. With close watching, we found that he was eating grass; then when he ate, his food came up.
When we fed him first, and then let him go outside, he did not throw up. Good luck on finding your solution. From Kathryn Kistner in Texas, who's now saying, "Fortunately, our solution was easy." ... View related article.
I have added a LONG single shelf in my quilting room that is approximately 12 inches down from the ceiling for storage of items that I do not use all the time. The shelf bottom rests on the door and window trim; that's my measuring tool for where to place the shelf.
When entering the room, there is no visible clutter since the shelf is above the door. Shelf items are only visible once you are inside the room and turn back toward the door.
In the photo, we are just finishing a remodel, and have not yet painted the door and trim. I'm already thinking of adding more ceiling shelves in my quilting room. They are SO practical!
I think of easy-to-reach, easily accessible storage areas as Prime Real-Estate. These areas should be used to store things that are used often; every day.
Sub-Prime Real Estate is anything that I would need to bend down to get at... knee to floor level, and anything that I would need a step-stool to reach.
Sub-Sub-Prime Real Estate is an area in which I would need to "travel" to access those items; attic or basement. (That's where I keep my EXTRA quilt batting.)
Perhaps your collections could be placed on "ceiling shelves", out of your Prime Real Estate, which is your WORK space.
My parents have a short hallway in their home, and have put "ceiling shelves" here to house their small DVD/VHS collection. The shelves are only 5 inches deep. They have kept a folding step-stool behind the hallway door for the last 57 years, so it's easy to access their movies.
Maybe there are other rooms in your home that could use ceiling shelves, and unburden your craft room.
From Kathryn Kistner in Texas, who's now saying, "We have even added a ceiling shelf in our bedroom, for our library!" ... View related article.
Jane, the clutter has introduced so much randomness into your life that you cannot think straight; that's why you sincerely do not know where to begin. (I have A.D.D., and with even small amounts of clutter, I become non-functional.)
Begin by focusing on ONE THING at a time. The way I begin decluttering is by sorting by picking up all of the same things. It might be all papers, all clothing, all dishes, or all books; it doesn't matter, but the key is to do them one at a time.
You may focus on collecting the one thing from the whole house, or just focus on one room. Collect, only.
P.S. - An effect occurs when focusing on "one thing" at a time. It puts you in the "NOW". You suddenly "wake up"; you notice things you've never noticed before; colors are brighter; you regain some hope. I don't understand it, but it happens every time.
If these collected (same) items have a home, go ahead and put the books in, on, or near the bookshelf. Put the clothes in the hamper, or hang them in the closet. Get a box and put the papers that need to be gone through, together; if it's newspapers or junk mail, recycle (if you already have a place for that); otherwise, throw them away.
Things that do not have a true home can be tossed into labeled boxes (or paper bags) to correspond with the ROOMS in which those items belong. Do not agonize over each item. Work quickly. Toss. Toss. Toss. Mark the boxes with LARGE letters that you can see from across the room.
If you come across something that is clearly trash, eliminate it immediately. If you come across something that you know you want to donate, designate a box for that, label it, and toss into that box. These are the no-brainers, only. No agonizing allowed!
The BEST boxes are banana or pineapple boxes from the grocery store. [See picture.] They are large, but not TOO large; they have hand holds for easy lifting, and they stack well.
When one box gets full, put the lid on and begin another. I find it helpful to go ahead and stack the full box in its designated room. Yes, it will clutter that room, but it will be contained for the moment.
By the end of your first day, try to have one room clear. This will be your "haven". Come here to breathe, sit, relax, de-stress, and think.
If there were any bills or "immediate" paperwork that you collected into a box, you must make it a priority to sift through the box of papers right away, pulling out the items with a deadline.
The next time you begin decluttering, start with your haven and see if it needs any "tweaking". See if something crept in that needs removing. Then move to your next space. We are not looking for perfection; we are looking for improvement.
As you fine-tune, use the same guidelines, above. Keep "same things" together, if you can. When you need glue, you will have certainly that you will find all varieties of glue in that ONE place. Each item will have ONE home. Even if it takes a few extra steps to get to that one place, it will be there every time because it lives there. People can find me at MY address because I live here; it's a very old concept that we are expanding to accommodate each and every small item in our home.
When you get to rooms with boxes already stacked in them, you will sort through those boxes as you declutter that room. It seems that you are double-sorting the same things over and over. Yes. It's true. I find that *I* must do it this way for my sanity. My subconscious knows what's in those boxes and is dealing with it at its own speed. It cannot be rushed. When we are ready to let go of certain things, we will know it; it will feel just perfect to pass them on. I often think of it as "blessing" others with my "good stuff" that no longer contributes to MY joy, but which will contribute dramatically to their joy.
Decluttering is an emotional onion-peeling process with thousands of decisions. The no-brainer, quick-and-dirty decisions come at the beginning. Finesse, fine-tuning, and value-driven decisions will come toward the end. I find that it can take a year or more to get to the fine-tuning stage. You will know it is time to peel the onion again when you feel "burdened" with the way things are. In fact, it feels pretty much like the way you are feeling right NOW! Ask me how I know. [wink] From Kathryn Kistner in Texas, who's now saying, "Burdens feel so good once you have eliminated them!" ... View related article.
To clean the fabric "whiskers" from my rotary cutting mat, I DRY-scrub it with a "greenie", which is really designed for scrubbing dishes. (It reminds me of A/C filter material.)
There is a TRICK to removing ALL of the fabric particles from the cuts in the mat. I just gently bend the cutting mat over the edge of the table or over a coffee can. This opens the cuts, and the greenie grabs the fuzzies out.
From Kathryn Kistner in Texas, who's now saying, "It's only a TRICK until you discover the SECRET."... View related article.
