Cleaning out the closets...literally

If you couldn't tell from last Tuesday's manifesto, I'm sick of clutter. My Aunt just happens to be a professional mover (as in she's moved about 9 million times in the past 25 years...that may be a stretch..it's been a few times) and I happen to love how when I'm at her place there isn't anything there that doesn't belong. There are no piles of "stuff" that have little to know value clogging up the arteries of her home. One day over sewing conversation she offered to give me a hand to get organized. I think it started from my constant complaining about my kitchen and how it doesn't work for us...She offered to come give us a hand and we picked a date.

So on a Saturday morning mid-December, Debbie showed up with pizza and chocolate milk (buying Austin's love....he thinks she's the greatest! lol) Ozzy went skating, Amelia went down for a nap and she and I got to work.

I initiated a one touch rule. I had to decide if it was keep, donate or trash. We decided to start in our living room and entrance way where our "dumping station" was. You know you do it to...come home at the end of the day and drop bags by the stairs, kids coats go flying, mittens end up on the ceiling fan and boots magically appear under couch cushions. Mail gets piled on the ledge and once a month it gets opened. What? You don't do that...well this is awkward....moving on!

We went through the front closet and got rid of coats, old shoes and useless items that just ended up there. I ditched about half of my fabric shopping bags and paired down our winter accessories. Broken flip flops and too small shoes gone.  Papers were sorted, filed and shredded. The armoire that we bough as a storage solution to cure our "dumping" and was being used as a catch all all instead. It was emptied and organized. 3 hours later our entrance/living/dining room was dug out....and I could see surfaces I haven't seen in awhile. It felt good. I was tired, more emotionally than physically, but was happy with the progress.

That night G and I decided to tackle the kids' toys and play area. It was about to be Christmas and we just do not have the space to keep old broken toys or toys they have out grown with Santa about to bring in a whole lotta fun! Austin helped a bit but after the kids were in bed the real work began. If it was broken- gone, Happy Meal toy-gone (except his spy gear...he loves those gadgets),torn books, piece-less puzzles..all gone.

Our first day of cluttering yielded 8 bags of "trash" and 2 full bags of "donate". I have no before picture....You've all seen the clutter in background of adorable pics of my littles...But here is the after:

And do you know what the most incredible thing is? I took that picture on a Sunday afternoon without doing any tidying up first! That is an unheard of event in my house since Austin was 18 months old! Embarrassed- yes but way more excited than embarrassed!

Now on to the redecorating...New flooring will be installed and I've got all the furniture picked out. Maybe I should ask Hubby his opinion...nah!..on to the most tedious part...paint and fabric.  My goal is to have the main floor all painted, flooring down a a few improvements to the kitchen completed by the summer...In the meantime everyone start wishing for an Ikea sale!!!