Things we’ve learned in the past few days:
It’s only when rearranging furniture that hasn’t moved in eight years that you realize how really disgusting you are.
When eight years of cat fur tumbleweeds accumulate behind a bookshelf and are suddenly loosened in the breeze it can look a lot like some kinda rodent of unusual size is running straight at you.
When attempting to move a bookshelf you should probably take all the shit off of it first.
Ask me how I know.
PS. Still needs a lot of work but the “after” picture is worth it.
Aw, you cleaned! Yay!
I’m moving into a new study and have encountered some of the same problems with clearing out the old stuff. But now it looks great – and so does yours!
I NEED to know where your black book shelf in the left came from… I want DEEP shelves…
(Oh gosh. We’ve had that furniture for over two decades so I don’t even remember. Sorry! ~ Jenny)
OMG YES!!! When I moved from old apartment where I had lived for 5 years, the ‘fur ring’ where my sofa sat was so obvious.
Cat tumbleweeds … so THAT’S what those are!
Thanks. Desperately needed a smile today.
Cat tumbleweeds are a gift to let you know that we cats care. And I love how Dorothy Barker always pops her head in. What a cutie.
I know the pain of a crumbling bookcase full of stuff! My husband attempted to move a full bookcase across a room. Literally six inches from its new home, it started to fall sideways in slow motion. My immediate response was to start laughing uncontrollably because there was just nothing to be done as everything slowly fell out of it. My husband found it less amusing, lol!
I KNOW how you know this.
I’ve done it too.
More than once.
The finished result looks fantastic.
I hate (and avoid) cleaning, but I do love to move things around to create a whole new look.
I once found enough dog hair/fur/stuff to knit a new dog!
Susan
We have dust rabbits here. They are definitely not bunnies anymore when they are bigger than the dog they came from.
With 4 dogs, I am familiar with the tumbleweeds
WOW!! Sooo worth it. Makes me feel kinda inadequate, but that’s on me. Also inspiring, for those days when I don’t have the grandson, who just turned 3, running around the house. Good for you!
I used to have dust buffalos. Now I’ve hired someone to clean my house.
We have a snow dog – walking through the house is accompanies but slow drifts of white fur blowing aside…
My dust bunnies carry shivs made of toe nail clippings. Yes that ring of fur… I blame the dog.
We regularly have dog hair balls- we call them Finn-balweeds after our lab, Finn: the culprit.
About two weeks into the lockdown back in March here in MN I decided I needed to change the direction of my life. So I completely flipped my bedroom from facing one direction to the other. What did I discover? Teeny desiccated poops under my dresser from my cat, Violet, who had passed away a year earlier. Yep, she pooped under my dresser and I never noticed. And they were there for at least a year. So I get it. And also had a chuckle remembering what an awesome cat she was. 🙂
I love how Dorothy Barker is posing for her photo. It unfortunate that all that other stuff is distracting from her cuteness. J/K
Looks great! And it looks like Dorothy Barker approves too 😊 Everytime I go on a mouse hunt (cat toys I promise) I inevitably end up under the couches saying “How are we this dirty?! We CAN’T be this dirty!!! You aren’t alone and the room looks fabulous for your effort.
We just moved houses after 17 years in the old house.
There are corners there I was appalled by.
And I could’ve warned you about the bookshelves – I alone have 60 boxes of just books. Lillian says our new house is my library with a kitchen, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. 😀
I need to clean but I don’t wanna! Plus the cats sleeping next to me I can’t wake her I’m not a monster
It really doesn’t even require a cat, as I found out to my detriment 4 days ago whilst “deep cleaning” my bedroom. Move your bed, people. Trust me when I say your vacuum is not cleaning as much as you think it is! 😉
When we find was of cat fur, we like to imagine what kind of Franken-cat we could build.
Someone looks like a badass and very organized…
His office looks so nice!
I call the amassing fur piles “the slow cats.” Like other sentient cats in our home; just not as assertive about the food dish or catnip.
oH Dorothy Barker, SO CUTE! I know …cleaning……argh And when someone comes to visit I tell them to give me a warning so I can get out the ‘backhoe’ NOT funny.
I totally dig your groovy Darth Vader poster baby. Where did you get that shwag? I just thought you’d get a blast out of someone talking 70’s. But really I love that Mexican Vader.
Good job ❤️
Cleaning porn. My favorite!
I haven’t moved my couches in a while, so I can only imagine how many cat fur tumbleweeds are under them lol. I try to vacuum under the couches with hose on my vacuum cleaner, but it can only reach so far.
I had this revelation on the weekend too
Thanks for the heads up. *proceeds to nail all furniture in place*
We’re about to sell out house after living here for 15 years. OMG, the horror of what we are finding. And the amount of crap we own…
You should also remove everything from your fridge (or at least strap it shut) before you move it too 😉
When they are bigger than the pet they came from they are dust rabbits, ‘cause they’re not small or cute enough to be called bunnies anymore.
I no longer want to see what’s behind the couch, behind the fridge, or under the bed between the under bed boxes, I’m scared it’ll grow legs and start walking away.
You know you have too many books when the bookshelves start taking over every room in the house and the storage unit is full, as is your parent’s basement/attic.
You’re amazing that you got a before and after picture, sometimes it takes me several days or weeks to get there. Awesome office!
I also recommend NOT looking at rooms from unusual angles. Getting down to look under the stove means noticing all the gunk at the level of the kitchen cabinets. https://possumscatsthingsgnawingatme.wordpress.com/2020/10/21/stressful-fun-little-adventures/
“rodents of unusual size”…I see what you did there. Inconceivable!
Here’s one that’s fun. After your cats have misplaced all of their little mouse toys, sit on the floor in front of the refrigerator (or the stove) and swish a yardstick underneath the appliance. (Your cats will watch your every move.) Usually lots of cat furballs and catnip toys come out, once there was a dead mouse. Lots of excitement around here.
I feel like that can’t be YOUR office because there aren’t enough dead creatures in costumes on the shelves. But I see DB made sure she photobombed appropriately, which seems perfect to me.
Dorothy Barker looks so cute in the picture! And awesome job on the office!
As Joan Rivers said, “housework–what’s the point? You clean and clean and six months later you have to do it all over again!”
No, not “cat tumbleweeds” – they are “feline confetti”.
It looks really nice. How long did it take?
Looks great! We usually move every couple of years (Navy) but will live in this house for probably six and I’m afraid of how entrenched we’ll be by then and what exactly we’ll find when the movers take the giant couch.
Laughing out loud for several minutes here, having experienced similar mishaps when preparing several rooms of our house for necessary renovations. Also, post-renovation, finding the master bedroom (not renovated or emptied) covered in drywall dust and ancient dust because the adjacent small bathroom WAS worked on and the door was removed to allow the work. Your completed room looks great! I still have a lot of work to do. Hahahahaha!.
a lost invisalign (my teen spit it out in his sleep) lead to a similar discovery here. I’m still wretching over things I found under the bed.
I know about moving full bookshelves because I’ve done it, and then picked up all the books I’d spilled, and put them back on the newly dusted shelves.
Is that Haley’s room? Great job! And look at little Dorothy squeeee!!!!
@melanie #3 — IKEA has deep shelves — customizable, too!
Can I just say I am so glad its not just my house that has clumps of cat hair everywhere! Under the beds couch chair and behind the bookshelves! Don’t get me started on behind the fridge and stove! 😝
When I move old furniture I always send a cat in first – in case it really IS a weird large rodent..
ROUSs are a wonderful example of crap we don’t know is accumulating. I had so hoped there’d be a mention of “marbles” which still makes me laugh til I pee.
I knew someone who owned an independent used book store in my area (for health related reason she had to close). When she bought the shop from the previous owner, she decide to change the lay out of some of the shelves. We offloaded some of the books (two shelves bolted together) wrapped shrink wrap around the shelves and pulled the shelves on one corner a pivoted them into place, one person spinning, another person spotting, basically (the fact that i figured out how to do this by myself, got me yelled out by the store owner).
My lifemate was appalled to see the that the top of my sandal soles are black. “Are our floors that dirty, that you have hillbilly feet?” She screamed at me.
I didn’t bother to tell her that I’d been barefoot in the mulch.
Some people have dust bunnies. I have dust capybaras. Seriously. I am not proud of this.
It’s looks marvelous darling! I recently cleaned my filth pit too. I’m in a better mood and less anxious and depressed. Cleaning up helped a lot.
I’ve had cats for half my life now (my parents wouldn’t let us have them as kids) and I had NO idea cats had so much fur until I recently bought a brush to try and control the amount of stray hairs coming off my cat Bella. HOLY CRAP.. Between Bella and Tony (my other cat), just after one brushing session, I had enough hair to stuff a pillow. If I wanted to stuff a pillow with old cat fur, that is.
I’m sitting here feeling truly redeemed and relieved that it’s not just me. When I moved out of my last place (my apartment of 8 years), I was shocked and horrified to find the layer of cat and dog hair under everything I couldn’t reach. The movers kept sneezing. 🙁 I felt like the most disgusting person in the world! Of course, I’d still like MORE cats and MORE dogs!!
My step-dad was moving and once the bookcases were in the truck – he found 5lbs of hazelnuts the cat had whacked behind one and about $3 in pennies behind the other.
Looks awesome, but the books…where’d they go? :-O
I gave up on “dust bunnies” years ago. Now we deal with dust buffalo. Martha Stewart doesn’t live here.
I gave up on “dust bunnies” years ago. Now I deal with dust buffaloes. Martha Stewart doesn’t live here.
We moved into this house three years ago. We’re still finding dog fur. We don’t have a dog. I keep thinking of align from n old science fiction story… “the gnurrs they come from the woodwork out” because there has to be something extra dimensional about the places this dog fur has hidden!
I had a cat named Tumbleweed.
I am glad no one was injured. I decided to replace a shelving unit in my laundry room. I was barefoot. I picked up the old shelf to remove it. It was two pieces. I had forgotten this key part. The bottom part fell off and landed on my big toe. My big toe split open like a grape, broke bones, and the toenail. I screamed the F word so loud that my husband heard me from the upstairs shower. I didn’t want to go to the hospital but that’s where I went. I got an IV of antibiotics because when you break a bone and skin, you could get a blood infection. I could add a photo but I’m sure no one wants to throw up. My sister in law, the best nurse in the word said pics or didn’t happen. She got pics. I love her. My shoe size changed because the toe is larger now but hey, bright side? New shoes!
I have fostered a number of dogs, all varying colors. I have had a total of 4 cats of varying fur patterns. The furthest I have moved any furniture is 4 inches in the 20 years I have lived here.
I am afraid to see the nearly archeological layers o’ fur in shades from Yellow or Black Labs, Black Colliedor, Golden Retriever, Golden Doodle, a Chiweenie, a Bully type and a Shepherd\Husky cross.
And the recovery of cat toys and fur from beneath appliances is disgusting for me, but a major party for the kitties.
BRAVO on the new office\work space!
I call them dust puppies. Furr obvious reasons, if you knew my critters.
The office looks fantastic! I especially love Dorothy Barker in that pic. LOL I had chinchillas for 19 years. I’ve lived in my current place for 12. My last chinchilla passed on a year and a half ago. I saw chinchilla poop just two days ago when I dug something out of a cabinet, and I’m positive there’s more under that cabinet because it hasn’t moved for 10 years. (Also quite positive it’s not wild rodents – after 19 years, I know the difference.) Having moved many times in my life, I’ve always said that no matter how clean you think your house is, trust me, it’s not. This is a very comforting fact when I go to my stepmother’s house – dust doesn’t dare to enter her space. Even so, I’d love to move her bookcase because I’m *sure* she is not nearly as perfect as she thinks she is.
anytime i get the urge to clean, i watch an eppisode or 6 of the ”hoarders” show. my house looks spotless compared to them.
Holy Cow! Excellent. Now, come to my house and help me do the same with my guest room/junk collection area. Lol.
We refer to those cat tumbleweeds as “cat garments” and are glad that our cats don’t need to have their laundry done very often.
Yeah, bookshelves DEFINITELY need to be emptied before being moved. Been there. Looks great.
I’m packing a house that my family has been for 37 years. Then there’s the 44 x 50 x 12 shop stuffed to the rafters. Dustnados are the least of my troubles. 🙂
Cat tumbleweeds? Dust bunnies? Nah, those are ghost turds.
Omg my washing machine went boom at the beginning August and when they finally delivered the new one, they removed the old machine for me. There was the grossest pile of brown gunk under it. I realized then that the cat did NOT catch all those treats I pitched at him and that he seemed to stop with wizard-like accuracy.
My step-dad was moving and once the bookcases were in the truck – he found 5lbs of hazelnuts the cat had whacked behind one and about $3 in pennies behind the other.
We used to have a Norwegian Forest Cat, and they have the thickest fur EVER, it was like angora. When it was time to shed in the late spring, it would come out in great lumps that would blow around the yard; birds and other critters would steal it to line their nests. I always thought how deliciously evil it would be to collect it all, spin it into yarn, and then make sweaters and such out of it to give to my enemies with cat allergies.
Your Pal,
Storm the Klingon
Well I personally have a lot of moments where I realize how disgusting I am, even when I am not moving around my furniture! haha
Also, I don’t wanna use this comment section for self-promo (but yes, that’s exactly what I wanna do) but I just uploaded probably my most personal blog post yet, an open letter to my former bullies, and I would love some feedback to get the message across a little.
Sorry for that ad. Will not happen again, promise.
Well I personally have a lot more instances where I am reminded of how disgusting I am, even when I’m not moving furniture haha
Had a similar experience when replacing some old drapes to brighten our bedroom with some color. As I went around the room, I dusted high and low because I couldn’t believe the corner cobwebs and the cat-hair encrusted baseboards. Ugh.
Am I the only one who immediately said “OMG, I must have the El Malo poster, and I must have it RIGHT NOW!!”? It is beyond awesome, and I’ve already ordered one. Thank you for alerting me to its existence.
Dorothy Barker is the cutest dog ever.
I love Dorothy Barker’s photobomb!
Every now and again, I take a look at the baseboards, and wonder how much skin we’re all losing to create that kind of filth. And the dust that collects the corner where the carpet meets the wall, that the vacuum can’t get to – eeewwww! But that doesn’t inspire me to clean thoroughly any more often.
what a nice orderly office. what a cute Dorothy.
This is why I never move furniture.
Oops! That was me
Recently moved after over 16 years in a house, only a few of which we had cats. We did get a new sofa, so no surprises there. What I hated was how dusty (and furry) the floor-level shelves of the bookcases were, and then when we moved them? Terrible! How could so much dust (and who knows what [shudder]) get underneath the bookcase that goes right down to the floor?
Just beautiful, what a lovely place to work!
Thanks. thats was me hehe
Omg when we moved, the amount of new golem-huskies we could have made was DISGUSTING.
I’m dying over Dottie so tiny in that picture!
Also, you cleaned and didn’t set anything on fire! (Right??)