Bayram Cigerli Blog

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Home Improvements etiketine sahip kayıtlar gösteriliyor. Tüm kayıtları göster
Home Improvements etiketine sahip kayıtlar gösteriliyor. Tüm kayıtları göster

One Man's Trash

I am always trying to get rid of things. I probably go through my closets once every month or two months and throw things away. When I moved into the new home and moved my old stuff out of storage last May, I tried to ge through each box as I unpacked it and to get rid of what I could then. I probably gave away a half a dozen bags full of stuff then. I definitely tried on all my clothes and threw away anything with holes, that was too small/big or that was completely not even close to my style anymore (huge Rage Against the Machine t-shirt....okay, actually I kept that to sleep in but I did give away the Nirvana shirt).

However, I somehow still have a ton of stuff and much of it is things that I have not worn for months or years, is expired or that was given to me by someone and just isn't something I would use (or that I need). So I decided to join Lisa in the February Purge Project. Her goal was to get rid of as many things each day as the number of the day that it was. For example, on the 1st, you give away one thing. On the 19th, you give away 19 things. And so on. That ends up adding up to 425 items. While you may think that there is no possible way you could get rid of 425 items, it is surprisingly easier than you would think!

So many old t-shirts!

I did not get it all done in February. I also did not really finish my sorting and purging (I still have the garage to go through! Ack!) However, I did get about halfway through, and in total so far, I have given away or thrown away 333 items. The majority of the things, unfortunately, are smaller things. For example, my biggest category was office supplies. Next biggest category was accessories. Here's the breakdown.

125 Office
73 Accessories
52 Home
43 Clothing
22 Books
18 Toiletries

I have to admit, I still have a lot of boxes from my move that I have not thoroughly gone through. When I began this purge, I started with a couple of them and either threw things away or put them in the Goodwill pile anything if I had not used in years or in many cases, if they no longer worked. For instance, I had so many old pens!

I will not read these again.

Doing this kind of thing takes time, especially when you are talking about some of the things that carry memories, as they are hard to give away. However, over the years I have become better about throwing or giving away things that I am not using or looking at or enjoying and probably never will. As much as I cherish that tchotchke that my grandmother gave me, I really don't need it and it will either sit in a box in my garage or it will just be another thing to dust on the shelves in my house.

I try to think about three things: Does it work/fit? Have I used it in the last 6 months (or year for certain items)? Is it worth passing on to someone at some point? The first two are easy, as they are quantitative. The last is not as easy and is where I often run into snags. The tchotchke is worthless to everyone but me, who associates it with a memory or a person. However, it sitting in a box is worthless as well. So why not enjoy it or give it to someone who may, whether they are a faceless Goodwill customer or a friend. So that is what I am trying to do.

Next up: the garage. I will have an update on that later!

Do you do a yearly or monthly purge? What strategies do you employ? How many dried out or non-functioning pens do you have? 

Be It Ever So Humble: Closet Makeover

It was very common back in the day for houses to not have closets. Don't quote me on this, but my understanding is that it had something to do with getting taxed for each "room", and closets were counted as rooms. Therefore, many older houses are closet-less. 

My house was built in 1924. I  have friends with similarly aged homes which have teeny tiny closets, which I have heard came from the fact that homes were taxed per square foot (and why waste it on closet space). Luckily, my closets are not too tiny and I even have a bonus hole in my hallway. However, there is not a lot of shelving in any of them.

The other day my Dad calls me up and says that he would like to come down and fix something in my house. Fortunately, I do have a self imposed Honey Do list. However, most of the things on it are pretty easy things I can do myself (not that I always want to, but I CAN). Luckily, I can think quickly on my feet, and when he requested a project AND a drawing, I quickly got to work. Here is what I came up with. 

Bedroom Closet Plan

Hall Closet Plan

Aren't my drawing skills fabulous? NOT. For the bedroom closet, I wanted a few shelves to put shoes or clothes on, as well as a rod to hang things. For the hall closet, I wanted some shelves and also a space for the broom/mop and a space to hang people's coats when they came to visit. 

So Dad came down and got to work. Here are the before and after shots. 

Bedroom Closet: The day I moved in
Bedroom Closet : Before
Bedroom Closet : After

Don't judge me. I have a lot of shoes. 

Hall Closet : Before
Hall Closet : After

I still need to paint the shelves in the bedroom closet and to figure out how I want to organize everything, which will involve a bit of shifting and time to see if things are working the way I want them to. However, overall I am quite pleased with the way everything turned out! 

Do you have enough closet space? If you could have a closet makeover, what would you change/add? 

A-List Monday: Roofing vs Exercise

For the last week, I have been helping to re-roof a neighbor's house. It has not been easy! Not only is standing at an angle very uncomfortable, but it also uses muscles you did not even know you had! However, this may be better than a workout! Everyone who has made a New Year's resolution to work out more should just start doing construction instead.

FYI, the roof we put on was metal, which entails metal panels about 3 feet wide and  8-10 feet long. The roof was pretty steep on most of it, which makes it hard to keep the panels from sliding. I have illustrated these concepts below with my "excellent" art skills (which are at about preschool level).

3 ways Roofing is like exercise: 

{1} Roofing is like Yoga. You are constantly stretching, kneeling, crouching to reach a stapler without having to move too far while holding a panel, doing the childs pose in order to screw in the panel you are holding down with your body, or doing a downward dog in order to hold down a panel without it slipping.


{2} Roofing is like aerobics. You are walking up and down the roof, hopping over things, running across the panels and best of all, crouching and standing, crouching and standing. I once took a salsa aerobics class in college. Let me tell you, roofing makes you twice as sore the next day!


{3} As shown above, roofing IS weight lifting! I must have screwed in several hundred screws over the past few days. This is no easy feat, since the metal panels are difficult to screw. You have to put some muscle into it. Well, when you don't have any arm muscles to speak of, this is HARD! My arm is like jello today! Just the right one though. Also, the panels don't (unfortunately) walk themselves from the ground to the roof. They have to be carried! This means military presses for everyone!


According to LoseIt, you burn 300 calories an hour by roofing x 8 hours = 2400 calories per day. It's like running a marathon!  So, for all you January resolution makers, instead of joining a gym, go join Habitat For Humanity! It's cheaper AND it's a better workout.

Have you ever done any home improvement work? Did you like it? Were you sore the next day?

Look What I Found This Week

This week, since the weather has been so un-winterlike, I decided to do a little "spring" cleaning. Since I travel so much, all my stuff (except for my one suitcase that I travel with) is in storage. This week, I went through that storage, to see what I could get rid of. Of course, if you are like me, you know that sometimes going through your storage to "get rid of it" results in a walk down memory lane. So, grab a beer (inspired by Kim) and look what I found this week! In addition, I did do a few other things. They are also included below.

Before I went crazy and started doing a major sorting movement, I had my extended family's Christmas party (in January)! It was great to see all the cousins! 

My Dad (yup, that's a kilt) and cousin
Some of my younger cousins -- pretty in pink
I went running. Only twice! I have been slacking due to the fact that I have had so many other things to do this week! I need to get back on track, so to speak! 

I found a new trail! A little overgrown but FUN!
Instead of running, I have been helping re-roof a house! It is a lot of work! 


I also went to an auction -- not to buy anything, but to see how it worked, in case I want to sell anything. BUT...you can get some darn good deals on things! I saw one 46 piece dish set, a nice one too, go for about 5 dollars! 


Okay, so you have gone through old stuff, right?
I wonder if you keep as strange of things as I do. 

{1} My diary from when I was about 8. Complete with fool proof locking device!


 {2} My first medal from my FIRST running race! 1986.


{3} My first digital camera!


{4} My "best friends" necklace from Jr. High! Remember those!?


{5} SO MANY books. It is really hard to get rid of them though! 
*in case you can't read, they are "travel/memoir/reference" and "Not Read Yet" *


*These are the "not read yet" books! 
A whole box. I am SO embarrassed! I need to get a move on with my book reading goal!*


But...and you should be very proud, I got rid of FOUR bankers boxes of books! FOUR! I am sad, but happy!! 

And, last but not least, we had a bonfire. To burn the old files I threw away (tell me, WHY did I keep some of them?) as well as....the Christmas tree! How sad. Except I don't know if you can see or not, but my parents were VERY excited about it. 


Okay now, you need to help me. Am I normal? Or do you keep things too? What item is it hardest for you to get rid of? What do you do with your Christmas tree once you take it down?