September ends well

Today’s the last day of September 2026, and it was a good one—and this is a much more positive month’s end than the end of July was. This is because I accomplished what I wanted—starting back in July and thought I’d have finished in August, but still: I’ll take the win.

Today I finished the decluttering work in the living area (lounge/kitchen/dining), with a few concessions to reality, which I’ll get to. The goal, though, was to clear out all the excess stuff so the living area is neat and tidy. However, I decided to install the guest room wardrobe system first, and the reason was that the guest room was already neat and tidy, and so, the closest to being done. When I began working in the living area, sorting magazines was probably the biggest project in that room, and it wasn’t all that big—none of them were. I didn’t feel well for several days last week (maybe a cold, but probably allergies: It’s still pine pollen season), and that delayed me a bit.

I also added in a bit of work: I cleared part of the kitchen, too. The kitchen is U-shaped, with a long peninsula (with the sink in it) separating the kitchen from the living area. It was the peninsula that I focused on, mainly because it had become cluttered over the past few weeks while I was busy with other projects.

This is where the concessions to reality come into it. I haven’t yet cleared the benchtop on the other side of the kitchen, and for a very specific reason: The shelves I installed in my kitchen are above that area, and they’re filthy (I think I might not have cleaned the shelves in Spring of last year). Cleaning the shelves means taking everything off each shelf, cleaning the stuff, and then the shelf itself, and then putting all the stuff back on the shelves. This will inevitably mean that the kitchen bench beneath the shelves will get dirty (well, dirtier…). I realised it made more sense to clean the shelves and then clean the final benchtop underneath them. Why do the job twice?

One other concession is that I have a small end table that has parts for outside projects, but it’s still pretty pleasant outside most days, and so, the projects are still on the waiting list. Sure, I could put it all away and then get it back out again when I’m ready to do the projects, but yeah, that’s not happening.

Over the next few days, including this weekend, I plan to do my Spring Cleaning chores starting with those shelves in the kitchen, but also including pulling furniture out of their normal spots so I can vacuum underneath them (I’ve actually already started doing that, so it should be completed tomorrow or Friday).

By next week, the living area will be tidy and Spring Cleaned, so the next task will be clearing my bedroom, and that will be a challenge: The stuff in my bedroom that doesn’t belong is in there mostly because it should in my office—which is already overflowing with stuff. This means that, at the moment, I’m not sure what to do with some of that stuff—in fact, clearing stuff will probably be the most time-consuming part of the whole project.

Once all that’s done, the plan is still to turn my attention to my office. I have absolutely NO idea how that’s going to go, but I’m motived to finish it because once the house is orderly, then I can finally begin the “Operation Re-invent My House”, which is about redecorating and refreshing my house. On the plus side, the weather will be improving and warming in the coming weeks, and that’ll be handy if I decide to paint, because I can leave the windows open.

I haven’t talked about The Garage Of No Return, but it was supposed to be after I finished my office, and before it gets too hot in there. Honestly, I’m no long sure I’ll make that deadline after all the delays leading to today. The same goes for outside, too, of course, but that work has always been dependent on good weather, and that’s still true, of course. I’ll fit it in where I can.

My new plan (hope?) is to finish all this before the end of the year. That means up to around three months of work, some of which will be physically demanding. I honestly don’t know how all of this will go, but it’ll make for things to talk about here, I suppose. Onward.