Declutter

With my parents coming for a visit and maid service scheduled for this week, it was unfortunately time for a round of decluttering.  I started on the main floor and just started getting stuff off the floor, loading the dishwasher and getting laundry going.  We started putting away shoes and finally took a “junk” basket upstairs.  I enjoy the aesthetics of a whicker basket as much as the next guy, but they certainly become a dumping ground quickly.

Another impetus was the fortunate situation of giving away the playhouse in the backyard.  Getting 80 square feet of real estate back really got me fired up about taking my house back.  I started to work on the kids’ rooms by getting everything off of the floors and taking small forays into the closets.  This went pretty quickly.  The loft would be another matter entirely.  Again starting with the floor and then working around the perimeter we were able to get rid of two trash bags full of stuff and also fill up a bin for storage.

As I have been having more people over, I decided it was time to tackle the basement as well.  It started with an inventory of the bins which led to 1 bin of maternity clothes and 2 bins of puzzles heading to donation.  When the girls started to work on 750 piece puzzles it really was time to part with the 48 piece floor puzzles.  We will likely keep a couple for posterity.  We went through another couple of toys bins and filled another garbage bag.  A bag of dress up clothes and a bag of stuffed animals may make their way out to donation.  Finally in order to get some of the corners cleared, I started getting rid of some of the shoe boxes and other packaging that I have a tendency to hoard.  With a little extra space, I was able to make most of the room passable with only a few errant bins still in flight.  When we get a couple of the bins back, I intend to organize some of the home maintenance supplies.

I also picked up our master bedroom a little bit and cleared off my junk pile.  As it is May, it was time to give the cross country ski gear a final wash before heading to off season storage.